The diversity of animals identified as keystone species

Artificial light at night bans Chaoborus from vital epilimnetic waters

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is known to affect organisms in terrestrial ecosystems and adjacent litoral habitats. In the present study, we tested the effect of ALAN on the spatial distribution of organisms in open waters, using the insect larvae of Chaoborus flavicans as an example. During the day C. flavicans typically hide from visually hunting fish in deep, dark, anoxic waters. On safer nights, they forage in rich subsurface waters. Nighttime field tests revealed that light from an HPS street lamp mounted on a boat anchored in open water attracted planktivorous fish, but deterred planktonic Chaoborus from rich but risky surface waters. Chaoborus did not descend to the safest, anoxic hypolimnion, but remained in hypoxic mid-depth metalimnion, which does not appear to be a perfect refuge. Neither light gradient nor food distribution fully explained their mid-depth residence under ALAN conditions. A further laboratory test revealed a limited tolerance of C. flavicans to anoxia. Half of the test larvae died after 38 h at 9 °C in anoxic conditions. The trade-off between predation risk and oxygen demand may explain why Chaoborus did not hide in deep anoxic waters, but remained in the riskier metalimnion with residual oxygen under ALAN conditions.

A big-headed problem drives an ecological chain reaction

Disruption of key species interactions reverberates across an African savanna.