Color of artificial light at night affects incubation behavior in the great tit, Parus major

van Dis, N. E., Spoelstra, K., Visser, M. E. and Dominoni, D. M. (2021) Color of artificial light at night affects incubation behavior in the great tit, Parus major. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 728377. (doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.728377)

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Abstract

Artificial light at night (ALAN) has been recognized as a biodiversity threat due to the drastic effects it can have on many organisms. In wild birds, artificial illumination alters many natural behaviors that are important for fitness, including chick provisioning. Although incubation is a key determinant of the early developmental environment, studies into the effects of ALAN on bird incubation behavior are lacking. We measured nest temperature in nest boxes of great tits during the incubation period in two consecutive years. Nest boxes were located in eight previously dark field sites that have been experimentally illuminated since 2012 with white, green, or red light, or were left dark. We tested if light treatment affected mean nest temperature, number of times birds leave the nest (off-bout frequency), and off-bout duration during the incubation period. Subsequently, we investigated if incubation behavior is related to fitness. We found that birds incubating in the white light during a cold, early spring had lower mean nest temperatures at the end of incubation, both during the day and during the night, compared to birds in the green light. Moreover, birds incubating in white light took fewer off-bouts, but off-bouts were on average longer. The opposite was true for birds breeding in the green light. Low incubation temperatures and few but long off-bouts can have severe consequences for developing embryos. In our study, eggs from birds that took on average few off-bouts needed more incubation days to hatch compared to eggs from birds that took many off-bouts. Nevertheless, we found no clear fitness effects of light treatment or incubation behavior on the number of hatchlings or hatchling weight. Our results add to the growing body of literature that shows that effects of ALAN can be subtle, can differ due to the spectral composition of light, and can be year-dependent. These subtle alterations of natural behaviors might not have severe fitness consequences in the short-term. However, in the long term they could add up, negatively affecting parent condition and survival as well as offspring recruitment, especially in urban environments where more environmental pollutants are present.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Dominoni, Dr Davide
Authors: van Dis, N. E., Spoelstra, K., Visser, M. E., and Dominoni, D. M.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Publisher:Frontiers Media
ISSN:2296-701X
ISSN (Online):2296-701X
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 van Dis, Spoelstra, Visser and Dominoni
First Published:First published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 728377
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
Data DOI:10.5061/dryad.73n5tb2xq

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