Out of the Dark: Establishing a Large-Scale Field Experiment to Assess the Effects of Artificial Light at Night on Species and Food Webs

Stephanie I. J. Holzhauer, Steffen Franke, Christopher C. M. Kyba, Alessandro Manfrin, Reinhard Klenke, Christian C. Voigt, Daniel Lewanzik, Martin Oehlert, Michael T. Monaghan, Sebastian Schneider, Stefan Heller, Helga Kuechly, Anika Brüning, Ann-Christin Honnen and Franz Hölker
Additional contact information
Stephanie I. J. Holzhauer: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Steffen Franke: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
Christopher C. M. Kyba: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Alessandro Manfrin: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Reinhard Klenke: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Department of Conservation Biology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Christian C. Voigt: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
Daniel Lewanzik: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
Martin Oehlert: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Michael T. Monaghan: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Sebastian Schneider: Technische Universität Berlin, Energy and Automation Technology, Lighting Technology, Einsteinufer 19, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Stefan Heller: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Helga Kuechly: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Anika Brüning: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Ann-Christin Honnen: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Franz Hölker: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301/310, 12587 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 11, 1-24

Abstract: Artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of the most obvious hallmarks of human presence in an ecosystem. The rapidly increasing use of artificial light has fundamentally transformed nightscapes throughout most of the globe, although little is known about how ALAN impacts the biodiversity and food webs of illuminated ecosystems. We developed a large-scale experimental infrastructure to study the effects of ALAN on a light-naïve, natural riparian ( i.e. , terrestrial-aquatic) ecosystem. Twelve street lights (20 m apart) arranged in three rows parallel to an agricultural drainage ditch were installed on each of two sites located in a grassland ecosystem in northern Germany. A range of biotic, abiotic, and photometric data are collected regularly to study the short- and long-term effects of ALAN on behavior, species interactions, physiology, and species composition of communities. Here we describe the infrastructure setup and data collection methods, and characterize the study area including photometric measurements. None of the measured parameters differed significantly between sites in the period before illumination. Results of one short-term experiment, carried out with one site illuminated and the other acting as a control, demonstrate the attraction of ALAN by the immense and immediate increase of insect catches at the lit street lights. The experimental setup provides a unique platform for carrying out interdisciplinary research on sustainable lighting.

Keywords: ALAN; artificial light at night; ecosystem; freshwater; light pollution; loss of the night; photometric characterization; riparian; Verlust der Nacht (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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