夜间人造光(ALAN)会破坏各种生物的生物节律。为了确定动物在不同光照环境中如何分配能量,我们研究了ALAN对昼夜绿anole蜥蜴(Anoliscarolinensis)行为和生理的影响。两组24只成年蜥蜴(半雄,一半的女性)在受控的实验室环境中维持六周。一组暴露于模拟的自然夏季明暗循环;另一组暴露于模拟城市的ALAN,夜间光照。经过一段适应期,我们进行了四项行为试验.一项试验检查了两个24小时内的行为时间分配,另外三项是在中午和午夜进行的:露天测试,检查探索行为;觅食试验,检查猎物的消耗;和社会互动试验,检查同性互动。然后我们测量了每只蜥蜴的鼻孔长度和身体质量,腹部脂肪垫,肝脏,and,对于男性来说,睾丸。暴露于艾伦的蜥蜴更有可能在晚上醒着,利用夜间光线探索,牧草,并根据具体情况显示。然而,白天,艾伦蜥蜴不太可能醒着,移动较慢,女性表现得不那么频繁。艾伦蜥蜴有较重的脂肪垫和睾丸,但是艾伦没有影响身体质量,肝脏质量,或鼻子通风口长度。总之,ALAN似乎引起夜间活动增加的广泛转变,并可能改变代谢和生殖过程。未来的工作应该检查这些行为和生理变化的健康后果。
Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts biological rhythms across widely diverse organisms. To determine how energy is allocated by animals in different light environments, we investigated the impacts of ALAN on behavior and physiology of diurnal green anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis). Two groups of 24 adult lizards (half males, half females) were maintained in a controlled lab setting for six weeks. One group was exposed to a simulated natural summer light-dark cycle; the other was exposed to ALAN that simulated urban, nocturnal light exposure. After an acclimation period, we conducted four behavioral trials. One trial examined behavioral time allocation over two 24 h periods, and three others were conducted during mid-day and mid-night: open field tests, to examine exploratory behavior;
foraging trials, to examine prey consumption; and social interaction trials, to examine same-sex interactions. We then measured each lizard\'s snout-vent length and mass of its body, abdominal fat pads, liver, and, for males, testes. Lizards exposed to ALAN were more likely to be awake at night, using nocturnal light to explore, forage, and display to conspecifics. However, during the day, ALAN lizards were less likely to be awake, slower to move, and females displayed less frequently. ALAN lizards had heavier fat pads and testes, but ALAN did not impact body mass, liver mass, or snout-vent length. In sum, ALAN appears to cause a broad shift towards increased nocturnal activity and may alter metabolic and reproductive processes. Future work should examine the fitness consequences of these behavioral and physiological changes.