Summary
- Major: Biology and Wildlife Ecology
- Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ouyang
- Research Topic: How Artificial Light at Night Affects the Behavior and Fitness of House Sparrow
- New Scholar: 2022 Cohort
- Graduating with a Baccalaureate Degree: 2024
Abstract
Human activities change habitats faster than local species can adapt, threatening many with extinction. Loss of biodiversity degrades ecosystem functioning through the loss of ecosystem services. Urbanization is one such activity presenting novel stressors that reduce survival and reproduction. One stressor is light pollution which interferes with natural light-dark cycles and may disturb sleep and wake cycles, perhaps most noticeably in city-dwelling birds. Abnormal light exposure through artificial light at night may perturb behavioral rhythms important for reproductive success (fitness) and survival. It is currently unknown what long-term effects abnormal light has on survival and fitness. This study will inform how artificial light at night correlates with fitness in adult house sparrows (Passer domesticus). I hypothesize that artificial light at night dysregulates behavioral rhythms thereby imposing long-term negative effects on fitness. I will assess nocturnal activity and parental effort as proxies for behavior, while offspring survival estimates will inform fitness. Nocturnal activity will be acquired by tracking the movement of subjects with radio transmitters. Parental effort will be the rate at which parents feed chicks, determined through observation of nests. Offspring survival will be estimated using the number and body condition of offspring, calculated using weight and tarsus length. Measures will be compared among three sites around Reno, Nevada exposed to low, medium, and high intensities of artificial light at night. Establishing the strength of the relationship between artificial light at night and fitness will support the implementation of effective wildlife conservation measures.