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Recently, light pollution has been recognised as an important threat to biodiversity conservation because it can cause cascading effects on ecosystem functioning in several ways 3, 4, 5. Night sky degradation continues as light pollution levels increase at an annual rate of 6% 2. More than two-thirds of the world human population lives under a light-polluted night sky and the alteration of light levels at night hinders the visibility of the Milky Way by more than one-fifth 1. We also offer methodological approaches useful for other critically threatened petrel species grounded by light pollution.Īrtificial lights have provided important benefits to humanity, but they have also led to a loss of the natural nightscapes worldwide. We provide scientific-based information to manage dark refuges facilitating that fledglings from inland colonies reach the sea successfully. Breeding habitat alteration by light pollution was more severe for inland colonies.
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Rescue locations showed radiance values greater than colonies and flight distance was positively related to light pollution levels. Most birds left the nests in the first three hours after sunset. Birds were grounded at locations closer than 16 km from colonies in their maiden flights and 50% were rescued within a 3 km radius from the nest-site. We used GPS data-loggers to track the flights of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea fledglings from nest-burrows to ground and to evaluate the light pollution levels of overflown areas on Tenerife, Canary Islands, using nocturnal, high-resolution satellite imagery. Seabird fledglings are attracted by artificial lights when they leave their nest at night, causing high mortality.
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Knowledge on the threshold levels of light pollution at which significant ecological impacts emerge and the size of dark refuges to maintain natural nocturnal processes is crucial to mitigate its negative consequences. Martin Wikelski from the Max Plank Institute of Ornithology in Germany, was a catalyst for a very exciting tracking project – Movebank, which compiles the animal and bird migration geolocator records from hundreds of scientists worldwide.Light pollution and its consequences on ecosystems are increasing worldwide. Bridget Stutchbury, ornithologist and York University Professor, is featured in the documentary as she captures and tags Purple Martins at this site.Īnother participant in the film, Dr. Because of the perilous migration journeys most songbirds face, researchers never recover all the birds they tag.įor our documentary, one of the migratory research studies we are looking at is in the Purple Martin Conservation area of Presque Isle Park on the shores of Lake Erie. The tricky part about using this miniaturized technology is that the geolocators are not capable of transmitting live data, so in order for the researcher to get the data from the bird, the songbird has to not only has to be strong enough to carry a computer chip backpack for 9 or 10 months, it has to return to the same spot it was tagged to be recaptured the following spring.
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The researchers who have successfully retrieved the geolocator devices from returning songbirds say that when they analyse data for even a small number of birds, it is astonishing what they find out regarding flight, speed, distance, stop over sites and wintering-ground destinations. Within the device is a real time clock reference built in for each location measurement. Research teams can now equip the songbirds with tiny computer chip backpacks that record light levels and location information every two minutes. In only the last few years, songbird migration research has taken a huge leap forward as ornithologists and bird researchers have been able to find out more about bird migration due to light logger geolocator technology.