| Project Detail |
Unveiling the evolutionary impact of urban lights on pond ecosystems
Artificial light at night (ALAN) has well-known detrimental effects on terrestrial ecosystems. However, its impact on aquatic systems, particularly urban ponds, remains unexplored. The MSCA-funded ECO-EVO ALAN project addresses this, studying the disruption of zooplankton and their diel vertical migration patterns (i.e. sinking during the day and surfacing at night). This behaviour controls algal growth, and disturbance by ALAN may lead to harmful algal blooms. The project focuses on the evolutionary adaptations of water fleas to ALAN and their potential influence on urban pond ecology. This research aims to predict the intricate effects of human-induced global change on ecosystems, offering valuable insights for future socioecological and socioeconomic considerations.
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a ubiquitous feature of urbanization, and increases globally. Recent work, mainly conducted on terrestrial systems, reveals negative biological impacts of ALAN. If experienced in aquatic systems, ALAN may disrupt the delicate food web dynamics in urban ponds, with potentially detrimental consequences such as the occurrence of (toxic) algal blooms, which can cause serious harm to animals, including humans. Zooplankton, key components of freshwater systems, exert strong control over algal growth, but this crucially depends on their diel vertical migration (DVM) patterns (i.e. migrating to the bottom during day, and to the surface during night) – a dynamic known to be disrupted by ALAN. To date, very little is known about potential evolutionary adaptations in response to ALAN, whereas is has never been studied whether such adaptations can shape the ecology of ponds, e.g. top-down control of algae (so-called ‘eco-evolutionary feedbacks’). With the proposed project, I aim to study whether i) ALAN influences trait distributions and DVM of water flea zooplankton communities in urban ponds, ii) water fleas originating from these ponds have evolved genetic adaptations to ALAN in key ecologically relevant traits, and iii) ALAN-driven genetic trait changes influence the ecology of urban ponds (i.e. top-down control of algae). To achieve these aims, I will conduct a comprehensive field study, followed by laboratory common-garden experiments with ALAN-manipulation, and finally a field transplant DVM experiment. By integrating these results within an eco-evolutionary modelling framework, I will test for ecological consequences of evolutionary adaptations in one or multiple water flea species to ALAN. Given the rapid rate of urbanization, findings of the proposed research will be highly relevant in predicting the often-complex effects of (evolution towards) global change on ecosystems, with direct socioecological and socioeconomic consequences. |
