Abstract
AbstractMany marine ecosystems are shaped by regimes of natural light guiding the behavior of their constituent species. As evidenced from terrestrial systems, the global introduction of nighttime lighting is likely influencing these behaviors, restructuring marine ecosystems, and compromising the services they provide. Yet the extent to which marine habitats are exposed to artificial light at night is unknown. We quantified nighttime artificial light across the world's network of marine protected areas (MPAs). Artificial light is widespread and increasing in a large percentage of MPAs. While increases are more common among MPAs associated with human activity, artificial light is encroaching into a large proportion of even those marine habitats protected with the strongest legislative designations. Given the current lack of statutory tools, we propose that allocating “Marine Dark Sky Park” status to MPAs will help incentivize responsible authorities to hold back the advance of artificial light.
Highlights
31 The United Nations has proclaimed 2015 ‘The International Year of Light’, celebrating light science and its applications, including the global introduction of white artificial lighting
A number of marine invertebrate species synchronise broadcast spawning events using lunar light intensity (Naylor 1999), corals being the most notable example (Tanner 1996); zooplankton are guided by changing light intensity as they migrate towards the sea surface at night (Cohen & Forward 2009), a behaviour that is suppressed by artificially brightened skies in freshwater systems (Moore et al 2000); and the introduction of whiter lighting will likely affect prey location and bioluminescent communication (Davies et al 2014)
Our results suggest that artificial lighting should be considered a threat to marine ecosystems, and to regions that humanity has declared a vested interest in protecting
Summary
Many marine ecosystems are shaped by regimes of natural light guiding the behaviour of their constituent species. As evidenced from terrestrial systems, the global introduction of nighttime lighting is likely influencing these behaviours, restructuring marine ecosystems, and compromising the services they provide. The extent to which marine habitats are exposed to artificial light at night is unknown. We quantified nightime artificial light across the world’s network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Artificial light is widespread and increasing in a large percentage of MPAs. While increases are more common among MPAs associated with human activity, artificial light is encroaching into a large proportion of even those marine habitats protected with the strongest legislative designations. Given the current lack of statutory tools, we propose that allocating ‘marine dark sky park’ status to MPAs will help incentivize responsible authorities to hold back the advance of artificial light
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