Abstract

Light is crucial environmental factor for primary resource and signalling in plants and provide optimum fitness under fluctuating environments from millions of year. However, due to urbanization, and human development activities lot of excess light generated in environment during night time and responsible for anthropogenic generated pollution (ALAN; artificial night light pollution). This pollution has cause for serious problem in plants as it affects their processes and functions which are under the control of light or diurnal cycle. Plant biorhythms mostly diurnal rhythms such as stomatal movements, photosynthetic activity, and many more metabolic processes are under the control of period of light and dark, which are crucially affected by artificial light at night. Similarly, the crucial plant processes such as pollination, flowering, and yield determining processes are controlled by the diurnal cycle and ALAN affects these processes and ultimately hampers the plant fitness and development. To keep in mind the effect of artificial light at night on plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes, this chapter will focus on the status of global artificial night light pollution and the responsible factors. Further, we will explore the details mechanisms of plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes under artificial light at night and how this mechanism can be a global threat. Then at the end we will focus on the ANLP reducing strategies such as new light policy, advanced lightening technology such as remote sensing and lightening utilisation optimisation.

Highlights

  • Light is a major abiotic factor acts as energy source and signalling for plants growth and developments

  • In the year 2001, the first globe atlas of artificial night sky brightness based on US air force satellite data, which reported that the brightness of sky is increasing continuously and in world nearly two-third of world population living in an area where artificial light at night (ALAN) is higher than threshold limits

  • ALAN has important role during the human development process as it increases the working hours, work efficiency, reduce crime and accidents but due to excess use and accumulation in environment cause a problem of artificial night light pollution

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Summary

Introduction

Light is a major abiotic factor acts as energy source and signalling for plants growth and developments. Light is an essential factor for all living organism to fulfil their energy requirements Another important function of light is to act as regulator of signalling along with growth and development functions of plant. Photomorphogenesis (light regulated morphogenesis), phototropism (light mediated movements), circadian rhythm (light regulated biological rhythms) and many other crucial processes are under control of light [2] Light characteristics such as intensity, duration, and wavelength affect the living organisms including plant in positive and negative way. Biorhythms classified on the basis of duration for example, (a) short duration; on the order of seconds or minutes for example water and ion exchange across the cell membranes, (b) long duration; varies from days to months for example complex sequence of events and the quantitative changes regulated at cell, tissue and Artificial Light at Night: A Global Threat to Plant Biological Rhythms and Eco-Physiological.

Impact of the artificial light at night time on circadian rhythms
Stomatal movement and biomass
Photosynthesis
Photoperiodic movements
Impact of ALAN on eco-physiological processes
Plant growth and development
Pollination
ALAN as stressor
Ecosystem services under ALAN
Street light pollution
Buildings lights
Government policies for ALAN
Findings
Conclusion
Full Text
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