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Artificial light at night may decrease predation risk for terrestrial insects
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dc.contributor.author | Eckhartt, Greg | |
dc.contributor.author | Ruxton, Graeme Douglas | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-11-10T10:30:07Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-11-10T10:30:07Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2022-11-09 | |
dc.identifier | 281772133 | |
dc.identifier | 6beb81a3-ccdf-41a4-a169-0d3889f24509 | |
dc.identifier | 85141894670 | |
dc.identifier | 000882515900004 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Eckhartt , G & Ruxton , G D 2022 , ' Artificial light at night may decrease predation risk for terrestrial insects ' , Biology Letters , vol. 18 , no. 11 , 20220281 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0281 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 1744-9561 | |
dc.identifier.other | ORCID: /0000-0001-8943-6609/work/122720110 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10023/26353 | |
dc.description | Funding: This work was supported by the University of St Andrews. | en |
dc.description.abstract | Artificial light at night (ALAN) is thought to be detrimental for terrestrial insect populations. While there exists evidence for lower abundance under ALAN, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. One mechanism by which ALAN may contribute to insect declines may be through facilitating increased predation. We investigated this by experimentally manipulating insect-substitute abundance under differential levels of light. We used insect-containing birdfeed placed at varying distances from streetlights as a proxy for terrestrial insects, inspecting the rate of predation before and after dusk (when streetlights are, respectively, off and on). We found that there was a significantly greater effect of increasing distance on predation after dusk, suggesting that predation was actually reduced by greater levels of artificial light. This may occur because ALAN also increases the vulnerability of insectivores to their own predators. Implications for foraging behaviour and alternative explanations are discussed. | |
dc.format.extent | 5 | |
dc.format.extent | 554281 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Biology Letters | en |
dc.subject | Artifical light at night | en |
dc.subject | Light pollution | en |
dc.subject | Insect predation | en |
dc.subject | Insect decline | en |
dc.subject | Terrestrial insects | en |
dc.subject | GE Environmental Sciences | en |
dc.subject | QL Zoology | en |
dc.subject | DAS | en |
dc.subject | MCC | en |
dc.subject.lcc | GE | en |
dc.subject.lcc | QL | en |
dc.title | Artificial light at night may decrease predation risk for terrestrial insects | en |
dc.type | Journal article | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. School of Biology | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. Centre for Biological Diversity | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0281 | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
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