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Wong MKL, Didham RK. Global meta-analysis reveals overall higher nocturnal than diurnal activity in insect communities. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3236. [PMID: 38622174 PMCID: PMC11018786 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47645-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Insects sustain key ecosystem functions, but how their activity varies across the day-night cycle and the underlying drivers are poorly understood. Although entomologists generally expect that more insects are active at night, this notion has not been tested with empirical data at the global scale. Here, we assemble 331 quantitative comparisons of the abundances of insects between day and night periods from 78 studies worldwide and use multi-level meta-analytical models to show that insect activity is on average 31.4% (CI: -6.3%-84.3%) higher at night than in the day. We reveal diel preferences of major insect taxa, and observe higher nocturnal activity in aquatic taxa than in terrestrial ones, as well as in warmer environments. In a separate analysis of the small subset of studies quantifying diel patterns in taxonomic richness (31 comparisons from 13 studies), we detect preliminary evidence of higher nocturnal richness in tropical than temperate communities. The higher overall (but variable) nocturnal activity in insect communities underscores the need to address threats such as light pollution and climate warming that may disproportionately impact nocturnal insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark K L Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, WA, 6014, Australia.
| | - Raphael K Didham
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, WA, 6014, Australia
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Bucher SF, Uhde L, Weigelt A, Cesarz S, Eisenhauer N, Gebler A, Kyba C, Römermann C, Shatwell T, Hines J. Artificial light at night decreases plant diversity and performance in experimental grassland communities. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220358. [PMID: 37899022 PMCID: PMC10613542 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) affects many areas of the world and is increasing globally. To date, there has been limited and inconsistent evidence regarding the consequences of ALAN for plant communities, as well as for the fitness of their constituent species. ALAN could be beneficial for plants as they need light as energy source, but they also need darkness for regeneration and growth. We created model communities composed of 16 plant species sown, exposed to a gradient of ALAN ranging from 'moonlight only' to conditions like situations typically found directly underneath a streetlamp. We measured plant community composition and its production (biomass), as well as functional traits of three plant species from different functional groups (grasses, herbs, legumes) in two separate harvests. We found that biomass was reduced by 33% in the highest ALAN treatment compared to the control, Shannon diversity decreased by 43% and evenness by 34% in the first harvest. Some species failed to establish in the second harvest. Specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf hairiness responded to ALAN. These responses suggest that plant communities will be sensitive to increasing ALAN, and they flag a need for plant conservation activities that consider impending ALAN scenarios. This article is part of the theme issue 'Light pollution in complex ecological systems'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solveig Franziska Bucher
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Lia Uhde
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexandra Weigelt
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone Cesarz
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alban Gebler
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christopher Kyba
- Interdisciplinary Geographic Information Sciences, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
- Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Germany
| | - Christine Römermann
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Tom Shatwell
- Department of Lake Research, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Jes Hines
- Department of Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
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Hirt MR, Evans DM, Miller CR, Ryser R. Light pollution in complex ecological systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220351. [PMID: 37899008 PMCID: PMC10613538 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Light pollution has emerged as a burgeoning area of scientific interest, receiving increasing attention in recent years. The resulting body of literature has revealed a diverse array of species-specific and context-dependent responses to artificial light at night (ALAN). Because predicting and generalizing community-level effects is difficult, our current comprehension of the ecological impacts of light pollution on complex ecological systems remains notably limited. It is critical to better understand ALAN's effects at higher levels of ecological organization in order to comprehend and mitigate the repercussions of ALAN on ecosystem functioning and stability amidst ongoing global change. This theme issue seeks to explore the effects of light pollution on complex ecological systems, by bridging various realms and scaling up from individual processes and functions to communities and networks. Through this integrated approach, this collection aims to shed light on the intricate interplay between light pollution, ecological dynamics and humans in a world increasingly impacted by anthropogenic lighting. This article is part of the theme issue 'Light pollution in complex ecological systems'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam R. Hirt
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, 07743, Germany
| | - Darren M. Evans
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LB, UK
| | - Colleen R. Miller
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
| | - Remo Ryser
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, 07743, Germany
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