Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins

Visible light on Earth largely comes from the sun, including light reflected from the moon. Predation risk is strongly determined by light conditions, and some animals are nocturnal to reduce predation. Artificial lights and its consequent light pollution may disrupt this natural behavior. Here, we...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rodríguez, Airam, Chiaradia, André, Wasiak, Paula, Renwick, L., Dann, Peter
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/132256
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/132256
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Eudyptula minor
Artificial lights
Attendance pattern
Light pollution,
Penguin
Moon
Sun
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spelling Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little PenguinsRodríguez, AiramChiaradia, AndréWasiak, PaulaRenwick, L.Dann, PeterEudyptula minorArtificial lightsAttendance patternLight pollution,PenguinMoonSunVisible light on Earth largely comes from the sun, including light reflected from the moon. Predation risk is strongly determined by light conditions, and some animals are nocturnal to reduce predation. Artificial lights and its consequent light pollution may disrupt this natural behavior. Here, we used 13 years of attendance data to study the effects of sun, moon, and artificial light on the attendance pattern of a nocturnal seabird, the little penguin Eudyptula minor at Phillip Island, Australia. The little penguin is the smallest and the only penguin species whose activity on land is strictly nocturnal. Automated monitoring systems recorded individually marked penguins every time they arrived (after sunset) at or departed (before sunrise) from 2 colonies under different lighting conditions: natural night skylight and artificial lights (around 3 lux) used to enhance penguin viewing for ecotourism around sunset. Sunlight had a strong effect on attendance as penguins arrived on average around 81 min after sunset and departed around 92 min before sunrise. The effect of moonlight was also strong, varying according to moon phase. Fewer penguins came ashore during full moon nights. Moon phase effect was stronger on departure than arrival times. Thus, during nights between full moon and last quarter, arrival times (after sunset) were delayed, even though moonlight levels were low, while departure times (before sunrise) were earlier, coinciding with high moonlight levels. Cyclic patterns of moon effect were slightly out of phase but significantly between 2 colonies, which could be due to site-specific differences or presence/absence of artificial lights. Moonlight could be overridden by artificial light at our artificially lit colony, but the similar amplitude of attendance patterns between colonies suggests that artificial light did not mask the moonlight effect. Further research is indeed necessary to understand how seabirds respond to the increasing artificial night light levels.Peer reviewedSage PublicationsConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]201620162016info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Postprintinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/132256reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ingléshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0748730415626010.Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1322562026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
title Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
spellingShingle Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
Rodríguez, Airam
Eudyptula minor
Artificial lights
Attendance pattern
Light pollution,
Penguin
Moon
Sun
title_short Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
title_full Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
title_fullStr Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
title_full_unstemmed Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
title_sort Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Rodríguez, Airam
Chiaradia, André
Wasiak, Paula
Renwick, L.
Dann, Peter
author Rodríguez, Airam
author_facet Rodríguez, Airam
Chiaradia, André
Wasiak, Paula
Renwick, L.
Dann, Peter
author_role author
author2 Chiaradia, André
Wasiak, Paula
Renwick, L.
Dann, Peter
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Eudyptula minor
Artificial lights
Attendance pattern
Light pollution,
Penguin
Moon
Sun
topic Eudyptula minor
Artificial lights
Attendance pattern
Light pollution,
Penguin
Moon
Sun
description Visible light on Earth largely comes from the sun, including light reflected from the moon. Predation risk is strongly determined by light conditions, and some animals are nocturnal to reduce predation. Artificial lights and its consequent light pollution may disrupt this natural behavior. Here, we used 13 years of attendance data to study the effects of sun, moon, and artificial light on the attendance pattern of a nocturnal seabird, the little penguin Eudyptula minor at Phillip Island, Australia. The little penguin is the smallest and the only penguin species whose activity on land is strictly nocturnal. Automated monitoring systems recorded individually marked penguins every time they arrived (after sunset) at or departed (before sunrise) from 2 colonies under different lighting conditions: natural night skylight and artificial lights (around 3 lux) used to enhance penguin viewing for ecotourism around sunset. Sunlight had a strong effect on attendance as penguins arrived on average around 81 min after sunset and departed around 92 min before sunrise. The effect of moonlight was also strong, varying according to moon phase. Fewer penguins came ashore during full moon nights. Moon phase effect was stronger on departure than arrival times. Thus, during nights between full moon and last quarter, arrival times (after sunset) were delayed, even though moonlight levels were low, while departure times (before sunrise) were earlier, coinciding with high moonlight levels. Cyclic patterns of moon effect were slightly out of phase but significantly between 2 colonies, which could be due to site-specific differences or presence/absence of artificial lights. Moonlight could be overridden by artificial light at our artificially lit colony, but the similar amplitude of attendance patterns between colonies suggests that artificial light did not mask the moonlight effect. Further research is indeed necessary to understand how seabirds respond to the increasing artificial night light levels.
publishDate 2016
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2016
2016
2016
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Postprint
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
format article
status_str acceptedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/132256
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/132256
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0748730415626010.
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sage Publications
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sage Publications
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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