Artificial light at night desynchronizes strictly seasonal reproduction in a wild mammal |
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Authors: | Kylie A. Robert John A. Lesku Jesko Partecke Brian Chambers |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia;2.Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell 78315, Germany;3.Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany;4.School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia |
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Abstract: | Change in day length is an important cue for reproductive activation in seasonally breeding animals to ensure that the timing of greatest maternal investment (e.g. lactation in mammals) coincides with favourable environmental conditions (e.g. peak productivity). However, artificial light at night has the potential to interfere with the perception of such natural cues. Following a 5-year study on two populations of wild marsupial mammals exposed to different night-time levels of anthropogenic light, we show that light pollution in urban environments masks seasonal changes in ambient light cues, suppressing melatonin levels and delaying births in the tammar wallaby. These results highlight a previously unappreciated relationship linking artificial light at night with induced changes in mammalian reproductive physiology, and the potential for larger-scale impacts at the population level. |
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Keywords: | anthropogenic disturbance circadian disruption light pollution Macropus eugenii melatonin trophic mismatch |
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