Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals

M. L. Mardones; J. Lambert; J. Wiedenmann; T. W. Davies; O. Levy; C. D'Angelo

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115365

Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals

M. L. Mardones, J. Lambert, J. Wiedenmann, T. W. Davies, O. Levy, C. D'Angelo

The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Increasing levels of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) alter the natural diel cycles of organisms at global scale. ALAN constitutes a potential threat to the light-dependent functioning of symbiotic scleractinian corals, the habit-founders of warm, shallow water reefs. Here, we show that ALAN disrupts the natural diel tentacle expansion and contraction behaviour, a key mechanism for prey capture and nutrient acquisition in corals. We exposed four symbiotic scleractinian coral species to different ALAN treatments (0.4–2.5 μmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹). Exposure to ALAN levels of 1.2 μmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹ and above altered the normal tentacle expansion response in diurnal species (Stylophora pistillata and Duncanopsammia axifuga). The tentacle expansion pattern of nocturnal species (Montastraea cavernosa and Lobophyllia hemprichii) was less affected, which may indicate a greater capacity to tolerate ALAN exposure. The results of this work suggest that ALAN has the potential to affect nutrient acquisition mechanisms of symbiotic corals which may in turn result in changes in the coral community structure in shallow water reefs in ALAN-exposed areas.

Original language	English
Article number	115365
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	194
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115365
State	Published - Sep 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council NERC (NE/S003517/1 to T. Davis, J. Wiedenmann and C. D'Angelo) as part of the project “Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)”. Data were collected by J. Lambert as part of a final year dissertation project within the Marine Biology programme at the University of Southampton. We are grateful to George Clarke and Robbie Robinson for their support in maintaining the Experimental Coral Aquarium Facility at the University of Southampton.

Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council NERC ( NE/S003517/1 to T. Davis, J. Wiedenmann and C. D'Angelo) as part of the project “Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)”. Data were collected by J. Lambert as part of a final year dissertation project within the Marine Biology programme at the University of Southampton. We are grateful to George Clarke and Robbie Robinson for their support in maintaining the Experimental Coral Aquarium Facility at the University of Southampton.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Artificial light at night (ALAN)
Coral behaviour
Diurnal corals
Light pollution
Nocturnal corals
Response threshold

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10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115365

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title = "Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals",

abstract = "Increasing levels of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) alter the natural diel cycles of organisms at global scale. ALAN constitutes a potential threat to the light-dependent functioning of symbiotic scleractinian corals, the habit-founders of warm, shallow water reefs. Here, we show that ALAN disrupts the natural diel tentacle expansion and contraction behaviour, a key mechanism for prey capture and nutrient acquisition in corals. We exposed four symbiotic scleractinian coral species to different ALAN treatments (0.4–2.5 μmol quanta m−2 s−1). Exposure to ALAN levels of 1.2 μmol quanta m−2 s−1 and above altered the normal tentacle expansion response in diurnal species (Stylophora pistillata and Duncanopsammia axifuga). The tentacle expansion pattern of nocturnal species (Montastraea cavernosa and Lobophyllia hemprichii) was less affected, which may indicate a greater capacity to tolerate ALAN exposure. The results of this work suggest that ALAN has the potential to affect nutrient acquisition mechanisms of symbiotic corals which may in turn result in changes in the coral community structure in shallow water reefs in ALAN-exposed areas.",

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Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals

Abstract

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Keywords

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