Night-time lighting alters the composition of marine epifaunal communities.
Marine benthic communities face multiple anthropogenic pressures that compromise the future of some of the most biodiverse and functionally important ecosystems in the world. Yet one of the pressures these ecosystems face, night-time lighting, remains unstudied. Light is an important cue in guiding the settlement of invertebrate larvae, and altering natural regimes of nocturnal illumination could modify patterns of recruitment among sessile epifauna. We present the first evidence of night-time lighting changing the composition of temperate epifaunal marine invertebrate communities. Illuminating settlement surfaces with white light-emitting diode lighting at night, to levels experienced by these communities locally, both inhibited and encouraged the colonization of 39% of the taxa analysed, including three sessile and two mobile species. Our results indicate that ecological light pollution from coastal development, shipping and offshore infrastructure could be changing the composition of marine epifaunal communities.
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK thomas.davies@exeter.ac.uk.
Thomas W
TW
Davies
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Isle of Anglesey LL59 5AB, UK.
Matthew
M
Coleman
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Isle of Anglesey LL59 5AB, UK.
Katherine M
KM
Griffith
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Isle of Anglesey LL59 5AB, UK.
Stuart R
SR
Jenkins
D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D017753:Ecosystem; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008029:Lighting / Q000009:adverse effects*
anthropogenic disturbance; artificial light pollution; epifaunal communities; larval recruitment; light-emitting diodes; marine ecosystems