TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronobiology by moonlight
AU - Kronfeld-Schor, Noga
AU - Dominoni, Davide
AU - de la Iglesia, Horacio
AU - Levy, Oren
AU - Herzog, Erik D.
AU - Dayan, Tamar
AU - Helfrich-Forster, Charlotte
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Most studies in chronobiology focus on solar cycles (daily and annual). Moonlight and the lunar cycle received considerably less attention by chronobiologists. An exception are rhythms in intertidal species. Terrestrial ecologists long ago acknowledged the effects of moonlight on predation success, and consequently on predation risk, foraging behaviour and habitat use, while marine biologists have focused more on the behaviour and mainly on reproduction synchronization with relation to the Moon phase. Lately, several studies in different animal taxa addressed the role of moonlight in determining activity and studied the underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we review the ecological and behavioural evidence showing the effect of moonlight on activity, discuss the adaptive value of these changes, and describe possible mechanisms underlying this effect. We will also refer to other sources of night-time light ('light pollution') and highlight open questions that demand further studies.
AB - Most studies in chronobiology focus on solar cycles (daily and annual). Moonlight and the lunar cycle received considerably less attention by chronobiologists. An exception are rhythms in intertidal species. Terrestrial ecologists long ago acknowledged the effects of moonlight on predation success, and consequently on predation risk, foraging behaviour and habitat use, while marine biologists have focused more on the behaviour and mainly on reproduction synchronization with relation to the Moon phase. Lately, several studies in different animal taxa addressed the role of moonlight in determining activity and studied the underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we review the ecological and behavioural evidence showing the effect of moonlight on activity, discuss the adaptive value of these changes, and describe possible mechanisms underlying this effect. We will also refer to other sources of night-time light ('light pollution') and highlight open questions that demand further studies.
KW - Communication
KW - Foraging
KW - Light pollution
KW - Lunar cycle
KW - Predation
KW - Reproduction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888585937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2012.3088
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2012.3088
M3 - Review article
C2 - 23825199
AN - SCOPUS:84888585937
SN - 0962-8452
VL - 280
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1765
M1 - 20123088
ER -