Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)

Tackling gaps in our understanding of marine ecosystem responses to artificial light at night
Artificial city lights on water in a harbour at night
Project title: Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)
Funded by: NERC
Funding amount: £1,465,983
Dates: November 2019 – February 2024
Lead partner: University of Plymouth
Project PI: Dr Thomas Davies
Project partners: Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Bangor University, University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde
 
With estimates indicating that 23% of the world’s surface between the planet’s polar regions is affected by artificial light at night (ALAN) – and a rate of increase of 2.2% between 2012 and 2016 – the need to address the situation is pressing, to say the least.
Coastlines are illuminated with ALAN from piers, promenades, ports harbours, and dockyards and the potential for coastal ALAN to disrupt marine organisms, species interactions, population dynamics, and organism distributions is clear.
The potential for ALAN to reshape the ecology of coastal habitats by interfering with natural light cycles and the biological processes they inform is increasingly recognised. The Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE) project aims to tackle fundamental gaps in our understanding of marine ecosystem responses to ALAN.

Seventy-five per cent of the world’s megacities are now located in coastal regions, and coastal populations are projected to more than double by 2060. So, unless we take action now, it is clear that biologically important light pollution on the seafloor is likely to be globally widespread, increasing in intensity and extent and putting marine habitats at risk.

Thomas DaviesDr Thomas Davies
Associate Professor of Marine Conservation

Objectives

  • Ensure the outcomes of ALICE will be considered by governmental and non-governmental conservation organisations with the aim of being recognised in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive descriptor 11, which includes light and noise.
  • Engage with the outdoor lighting industry and ensure they are increasingly aware of the ecological concerns associated with the use of white LED lighting popular in maritime industries.
  • Create the most advanced indoor natural lighting solutions for aquarists, aquaculture, indoor farmers and scientific laboratories.
Street lighting creates an artificial glow in the night sky above Plymouth and the surrounding areas (Credit: Thomas Davies) Credit: Dr Thomas Davies
 

Key areas of research within the ALICE project

1. Laboratory experiments to determine the impacts of ALAN on coastal organisms

Parallel experiments will quantify the impacts of ALAN interference with natural light cycles on the life history responses of marine invertebrates. These relationships will be used to model the growth rate of marine invertebrate populations exposed to different intensities of cool white LED light assuming optimal conditions with no predators or competitors.

2. Laboratory experiments to determine the impact of ALAN on species interactions

The relationships between white LED light intensity, and species interactions (predation, competition and mutualism) will be simultaneously quantified during the above experiments, and used to model the impacts of ALAN on marine invertebrate populations accounting for their relationships with one another in nature.

3. Mapping and modelling the distribution of ALAN in coastal marine habitats

The intensity of colour composition of ALAN in coastal waters will be mapped across three contrastingly urbanised UK estuaries. These data, and associated optical modelling, will be used with satellite data to globally map ALAN intensity from the sea surface to a depth of 100m.

4. Modelling ALAN impacts on species distributions

The population models (1,2) and the ALAN distribution model (3), will allow a synthesis assessment of long term changes in species distributions that may result from ALAN impacts.

5. Quantifying the benefits of avoiding ALAN wavelengths

We will quantify the ecological benefits of: i) removing blue light form LEDs blue using optical filters; ii) replacing white, with longer wavelength Amber LEDs. In addition, we will quantify the responses of marine invertebrate larvae to different colours of light, so that the design of ecologically friendly LED lighting can be better informed.
 
 
 
Lighting illuminates Laira Bridge in Plymouth, a disused railway bridge that was refurbished in 2015 to carry a pedestrian and cycle path (Credit Thomas Davies, University of Plymouth)
Lighting illuminates Laira Bridge in Plymouth – coastal lighting can disrupt the habitat of organisms living in the nearby water
An illustration of how a Littorinid snail loses the benefit of camouflage making it more visible under broad spectrum lighting (right)
An illustration of how a Littorinid snail loses the benefit of camouflage under broad spectrum lighting (right)
The sand hopper (Talitrus saltator) is a common feature of Europe’s coasts (Credit John Spicer, University of Plymouth)
Creatures such as the sand hopper orientate their nightly migrations based on the moon’s position and brightness of the natural night sky
 
 
 
 
 
 

Outputs of the ALICE project

  • ?Producing the first global atlas of artificial light at night under sea.

  • ?Mapping exposure of seafloor ecosystems to artificial light at night for the first time.

  • ?Co-developing advanced naturalised lighting systems for controlled environment experiments that accurately simulate sunlight and moonlight cycles.

  • ?Developing state of the art laboratory facilities for investigating the impacts of altered light cycles on aquatic species.

  • ?Modelling how coastal cities modify underwater light cycles.

  • ?Quantifying the impacts of light pollution of the development and survival of marine invertebrate larvae.

  • ?Evidencing the globally widespread impact of coastal light pollution on coral broadcast spawning.

  • ?Quantifying the impacts of coastal light pollution on predator behaviour and the ability of prey species to camouflage.

 

Global Ocean Artificial Light at Night Network (GOALANN)

GOALANN is an international network of the world’s leading experts in marine light pollution whose mission is to conserve the oceans by improving knowledge and awareness of marine light pollution, its ecological and societal impacts, and management options.
The initiative unifies research groups from around the world to provide a central resource of marine light pollution expertise, projects and tools for policy makers, environmental managers, maritime industries, the media and the public.
Underwater view of light on water surface
 
 
 

Leading research and education in marine sciences

Gannet feeding. Image courtesy of Getty images. 

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Man fishing in small boat above coral reef. 

Marine Conservation Research Group

Close-up wave

Marine Institute

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