The impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) spectral composition on key behavioral traits of a sandy beach isopod.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a widespread human-induced disturbance, whose effects have been documented in many ecosystems. However, limited attention has been given to the source of the lights behind ALAN, so this study examined three of them: High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps and warm and cool white Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Laboratory experiments compared the effects of each type of light to natural day/night conditions, upon the activity, feeding behavior and growth of the isopod Tylos spinulosus.

Splitting light pollution: Wavelength effects on the activity of two sandy beach species.

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) threatens to disrupt most natural habitats and species, including those in coastal settings, where a growing number of studies have identified ALAN impacts. A careful examination of the light properties behind those impacts is important to better understand and manage the effects of this stressor. This study focused on ALAN monochromatic wavelengths and examined which types of light spectra altered the natural activity of two prominent coastal species from the Pacific southeast: the talitroid amphipod Orchestoidea tuberculata and the oniscoid isopod Tylos spinulosus.

Field experimental evidence of sandy beach community changes in response to artificial light at night (ALAN).

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive but still under-recognized driver of global change. In coastal settings, a large majority of the studies assessing ALAN impacts has focused on individual species, even though it is unclear whether results gathered from single species can be used to predict community-wide responses. Similarly, these studies often treat species as single life-stage entities, ignoring the variation associated with distinct life stages.

Metabolic rate allometry in intertidal mussels across environmental gradients: The role of coastal carbonate system parameters in mediating the effects of latitude and temperature.

We assess the role of direct and indirect effects of coastal environmental drivers (including the parameters of the carbonate system) on energy expenditure (MR) and body mass (M) of the intertidal mussel, Perumytilus purpuratus, across 10 populations distributed over 2800 km along the Southern Eastern Pacific (SEP) coast. We find biogeographic and local variation in carbonate system variables mediates the effects of latitude and temperature on metabolic rate allometry along the SEP coast. Also, the fitted Piecewise Structural Equation models (PSEM) have greater predictive ability (conditional R = 0.

Morphological, physiological and behavioral responses of an intertidal snail, Acanthina monodon (Pallas), to projected ocean acidification and cooling water conditions in upwelling ecosystems.

Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to rise towards the end of the 21st century altering the life history traits in marine organisms. Upwelling systems will not escape OA, but unlike other areas of the ocean, cooling effects are expected to intensify in these systems. Regardless, studies evaluating the combined effects of OA and cooling remain scarce.

Ocean acidification alters anti-predator responses in a competitive dominant intertidal mussel.

Widespread intertidal mussels are exposed to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Even so, our understanding of the combined influence of stressors such as predation risk and ocean acidification (OA) on these species remains limited. This study examined the response of the purple mussel (Perumytilus purpuratus), a species distributed along Pacific southeastern rocky shores, to the effects of predation risk and OA.