title: Experimental illumination of natural habitat--an experimental set-up to assess the direct and indirect ecological consequences of artificial light of different spectral composition.
abstract: Artificial night-time illumination of natural habitats has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Generally, studies that assess the impact of artificial light on various species in the wild make use of existing illumination and are therefore correlative. Moreover, studies mostly focus on short-term consequences at the individual level, rather than long-term consequences at the population and community level-thereby ignoring possible unknown cascading effects in ecosystems. The recent change to LED lighting has opened up the exciting possibility to use light with a custom spectral composition, thereby potentially reducing the negative impact of artificial light. We describe here a large-scale, ecosystem-wide study where we experimentally illuminate forest-edge habitat with different spectral composition, replicated eight times. Monitoring of species is being performed according to rigid protocols, in part using a citizen-science-based approach, and automated where possible. Simultaneously, we specifically look at alterations in behaviour, such as changes in activity, and daily and seasonal timing. In our set-up, we have so far observed that experimental lights facilitate foraging activity of pipistrelle bats, suppress activity of wood mice and have effects on birds at the community level, which vary with spectral composition. Thus far, we have not observed effects on moth populations, but these and many other effects may surface only after a longer period of time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), PO Box 50, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands k.spoelstra@nioo.knaw.nl.
authors.forename: Kamiel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Spoelstra
authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roy H A
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: van Grunsven
authors.affiliation: Philips Research, High Tech Campus 34, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donners
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), PO Box 50, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gienapp
authors.affiliation: Dutch Butterfly Conservation, PO Box 506, 6700 AM Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martinus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Huigens
authors.affiliation: Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, PO Box 6521, 6503 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slaterus
authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berendse
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), PO Box 50, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elmar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Veenendaal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D008029:Lighting / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: cascading effects; citizen science; daily timing; experimental lighting; population dynamics; seasonal timing