Light pollution may be driving changes in marine ecosystems, attracting some species and discouraging others.

Credit: Paul Souders/Corbis

Thomas Davies at the University of Exeter, UK, and his colleagues placed plastic panels in the sea off north Wales and illuminated some with white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at night while leaving others in the dark. After 12 weeks, the lit and unlit panels had been colonized by markedly different animals. Those influenced by light included both mobile and fixed species. Illumination reduced the numbers of hydroid Plumularia setacea, while the tube-building worm Spirobranchus lamarcki and the mobile crustacean Metis ignea seemed to be attracted by light. A rise in the use of LED lights, which emit a broader range of wavelengths than older lighting technologies, could increase the rate of marine ecological changes driven by light pollution.

Biol. Lett. http://doi.org/36n (2015)