TY - JOUR A1 - van Grunsven, Roy Hendrikus Antonius A1 - Jaehnichen, David A1 - Grubisic, Maja A1 - Hölker, Franz T1 - Slugs (Arionidae) benefit from nocturnal artificial illumination JF - Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology N2 - Artificial illumination increases around the globe and this has been found to affect many groups of organisms and ecosystems. By manipulating nocturnal illumination using one large experimental field site with 24 streetlights and one dark control, we assessed the impact of artificial illumination on slugs over a period of 4 years. The number of slugs, primarily Arionidae, increased strongly in the illuminated site but not on the dark site. There are several nonexclusive explanations for this effect, including reduced predation and increased food quality in the form of carcasses of insects attracted by the light. As slugs play an important role in ecosystems and are also important pest species, the increase of slugs under artificial illumination cannot only affect ecosystem functioning but also have important economic consequences. KW - ALAN KW - Arionidae KW - gastropoda KW - light pollution KW - phototaxis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2170 SN - 2471-5646 VL - 329 IS - 8-9 SP - 429 EP - 433 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kobel-Höller, Konstanze A1 - Gley, Kevin A1 - Jochinke, Janina A1 - Heider, Kristina A1 - Fritsch, Verena Nadin A1 - Ha Viet Duc Nguyen, A1 - Lischke, Timo A1 - Radek, Renate A1 - Baumgrass, Ria A1 - Mutzel, Rupert A1 - Thewes, Sascha T1 - Calcineurin Silencing in Dictyostelium discoideum Leads to Cellular Alterations Affecting Mitochondria, Gene Expression, and Oxidative Stress Response JF - Protist N2 - Calcineurin is involved in development and cell differentiation of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. However, since knockouts of the calcineurin-encoding genes are not possible in D. discoideum it is assumed that the phosphatase also plays a crucial role during vegetative growth of the amoebae. Therefore, we investigated the role of calcineurin during vegetative growth in D. discoideum. RNAi-silenced calcineurin mutants showed cellular alterations with an abnormal morphology of mitochondria and had increased content of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In contrast, mitochondria showed no substantial functional impairment. Calcineurin-silencing led to altered expression of calcium-regulated genes as well as mitochondrially-encoded genes. Furthermore, genes related to oxidative stress were higher expressed in the mutants, which correlated to an increased resistance towards reactive oxygen species (ROS). Most of the changes observed during vegetative growth were not seen after starvation of the calcineurin mutants. We show that impairment of calcineurin led to many subtle, but in the sum crucial cellular alterations in vegetative D. discoideum cells. As these alterations were not observed after starvation we propose a dual role for calcineurin during growth and development. Our results imply that calcineurin is one player in the mutual interplay between mitochondria and ROS during vegetative growth. KW - mtDNA KW - mitochondrial remodelling KW - calcium KW - oxidative stress KW - phototaxis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2018.04.004 SN - 1434-4610 VL - 169 IS - 4 SP - 584 EP - 602 PB - Elsevier GMBH CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eccard, Jana A1 - Scheffler, Ingo A1 - Franke, Steffen A1 - Hoffmann, Julia T1 - Off-grid BT - solar powered LED illumination impacts epigeal arthropods JF - Insect conservation and diversity N2 - 1. Advances in LED technology combined with solar, storable energy bring light to places remote from electricity grids. Worldwide more than 1.3 billion of people are living off-grid, often in developing regions of high insect biodiversity. In developed countries, dark refuges for wildlife are threatened by ornamental garden lights. Solar powered LEDs (SPLEDs) are cheaply available, dim, and often used to illuminate foot paths, but little is known on their effects on ground living (epigeal) arthropods. 2. We used off-the-shelf garden lamps with a single ‘white’ LED (colour temperature 7250 K) to experimentally investigate effects on attraction and nocturnal activity of ground beetles (Carabidae). 3. We found two disparate and species-specific effects of SPLEDs. (i) Some nocturnal, phototactic species were not reducing activity under illumination and were strongly attracted to lamps (>20-fold increase in captures compared to dark controls). Such species aggregate in lit areas and SPLEDs may become ecological traps, while the species is drawn from nearby, unlit assemblages. (ii) Other nocturnal species were reducing mobility and activity under illumination without being attracted to light, which may cause fitness reduction in lit areas. 4. Both reactions offer mechanistic explanations on how outdoor illumination can change population densities of specific predatory arthropods, which may have cascading effects on epigeal arthropod assemblages. The technology may thus increase the area of artificial light at night (ALAN) impacting insect biodiversity. 5. Measures are needed to mitigate effects, such as adjustment of light colour temperature and automated switch-offs. KW - Artificial light at night (ALAN) KW - Carabidae KW - illuminance KW - light pollution KW - light spectrum KW - nocturnal epigeal insect KW - phototaxis KW - solar powered light-emitting diode KW - spectral irradiance KW - white light Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12303 SN - 1752-458X SN - 1752-4598 VL - 11 IS - 6 SP - 600 EP - 607 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -