Light Pollution Affects Amphibians in the Environment

Sharon Wise; Department of Biology. Utica College of Syracuse University, Utica, NY U.S.A. Studying the Ecological Impacts of Light Pollution on Wildlife: Amphibians as Models

Source: Presentation at the International Conference in Defense of the Quality of the Night Sky and the Right to Observe the Stars Starlight 2007 -- La Palma, April 19-20, 2007

As humans expand near and into natural habitats, fragile ecosystems become affected by our artificial night lighting. Amphibians are an important part of forest and aquatic ecosystems, and they are very sensitive to environmental changes. For example, they are affected by chemical pollutants because of their skin. Frogs and toads can hibernate in winter and even inside mud because oxygen can pass right through their skin, unfortunately, so can chemicals that they wouldn't want, if they had any choice. As such, they are important indicator species of the health of ecosystems. 

Light pollution may also contribute to global decline of amphibians, because many amphibians are nocturnally active or have biological rhythms regulated by light. Wise's paper summarized research looking at the impact of light pollution on amphibians, using some example laboratory experiments, field experiments, and natural (observational) studies.

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Comments

[Shana]

Très bel article, très intéressant. Je reviendrai me poser chez vous. N'hésitez pas à visiter mon univers (lien sur pseudo). A bientôt.