The increase of artificial light at night is known to have significant effects on organisms and ecosystems. While animals are often studied in relationship to light pollution at extreme levels, little is known about how low levels of constant illumination can alter their behavior and physiology. Crickets play a key role in ecosystems in breaking down plant materials, acting as a food source, and renewing soil minerals. This research focuses on studying impacts on insect in artificial light conditions that can be found in most urban environments. By studying the house cricket, Acheta domesticus under light polluted conditions we can understand the impacts that artificial lighting at night can have on ecological communities. We used a growth chamber to determine the impact of artificial light on crickets. The chamber was set to 14 hours of daytime illumination and 10 hours of nighttime illumination. We used two nighttime treatments, one kept at 0.3 lux, to mimic typical levels of light pollution, and one kept at 0.001 lux for a non-artificial light environment. We measured body composition, behavior, and survival of crickets. We then analyzed differences in the probability of burrowing and survival by comparing these results and behaviors between light treatments.
Results/Conclusions
Results from this study indicate that artificial light and night does impact the behavior and survival of A. domesticus. Specifically, A. domesticus increased burrowing behavior under artificial light conditions at night. Burrowing behavior has not been previously cited as a behavioral reaction to light pollution in the environment. Crickets are known to burrow for temporary shelter or during reproduction to lay eggs. We also found suggestive trends of increased probability of survival under artificial light. Results from this study can be used to understand how artificial light at night may impact prey behavior and how regulating the placement and levels of light may keep natural ecosystems undisturbed at the lower trophic levels. Increased burrowing could lead to increased levels of plant matter destruction as well as a decrease in prey availability which could have bottom-up effects in the trophic cascade. With the spread of urbanization, it is crucial to understand the impacts of light pollution at the lower levels of the trophic system, and how animal behavior shifts with changing light conditions.