Artificial lighting affects the landscape of fear in a widely distributed shorebird.

ABSTRACT: Fear influences almost all aspects of a prey species' behaviour, such as its foraging and movement, and has the potential to cause trophic cascades. The superior low-light vision of many predators means that perceived predation risk in prey is likely to be affected by light levels. The widespread and increasing intensity of artificial light at night is therefore likely to interfere with this nocturnal visual arms race with unknown behavioural and ecological consequences. Here we test how the fear of predation perceived by wintering Eurasian curlew foraging on tidal flats is influenced by lighting. We quantified flight initiation distance (FID) of individuals under varying levels of natural and artificial illumination. Our results demonstrate that FID is significantly and substantially redu

SUBMITTER: Jolkkonen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9889372 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature