Discussion Post: Argument & Detail

Single Point Essay English 391—Mason

Audience Analysis

My intended audience is my mother, to whom I am writing about light pollution jeopardizing the bird population. My mother has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University. Her extent of knowledge concerning light pollution and the bird population is minimal. While receiving her education, she lacked courses relating to the environment. he occasionally watches National Geographic; however, the footage she sees fails to cover topics related to birds and light pollution. Despite this lack of formal education on this topic, her personality encompasses a care for nature and wildlife. She owned a lot of pets growing up, and cared for their wellbeing. With this respect for animals, she would feel sympathetic towards these birds. She uses artificial light for mostly driving purposes at night, and would feel enlightened since she fails to realize the correlation between artificial light and birds. I feel that she would really appreciate this paper because she does not know that a link between artificial light the health of birds exist. I would focus my writing on how light pollution harms this innocent wildlife, arranging it in a way that evokes more sympathy from my mother due to her care for animals. She likes statistics, and therefore I will incorporate that into my paper to help convince her further. I will also employ an informal tone when writing because this is how I usually speak to my mother. I will avoid overly scientific jargon because this is out of character in our mother daughter relationship. Claim: Light Pollution Significantly Threatens the Health of Bird Populations

Light pollution impedes the natural migration of birds. Artificial light poses a serious threat to 200 different bird species that migrate nocturnally. Birds hold a strong attraction to the illumination from various towers and buildings. Disastrous ramifications occur as light distracts and confuses them during flight. Causes for the confusion remain unclear, although theory suggests that the light impedes the birds’ magnetic compass that plays a role in their orientation (Poot et al., 2008). This confusion occurs more frequently during cloudy weather. As a result, collisions occur in these urban environments (Chepesiuk, 2009). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approximates that up to 50 million bird mortalities occur annually from communication tower collisions. According to Glenn Philips, executive director of the New York City Audubon Society, 10,000 birds suffer death or injury as a result of flying into skyscrapers during migration (Chepesiuk, 2009). Birds descend to safety only to find harm from predators such as rats, squirrels, crows, and humans which may result in death (Klem, 2007). This disruption of migratory patterns exists not only in birds residing in urban areas, but also birds that migrate along the sea. For example, in the southern North Sea, up to ten installations can come into view during a bird’s migration. Shorebirds, seagulls, seabirds and waterbirds fly past these structures when migrating to and from their breeding and wintering area. This poses a large risk for birds, as light pollution impacts hundreds of millions of migratory birds annually (Poot et al., 2008). Artificial light significantly jeopardizes the seabird population as it causes them to take refuge in landing where they face predation, collision, and starvation (Rodriguez et al., 2017). This overwhelming utilization of artificial light across the globe creates a danger to vulnerable birds who become victims to light pollution. It may result in significant injuries or even death of these birds, jeopardizing their life expectancy.

Artificial light alters the reproductive functions of birds. Females use dawn song to choose their mate. Light pollution instigates an early onset of singing in males. Female blue tit birds seek the earliest singing birds as mates, demonstrating the importance of song timing. Therefore, artificial light would alter the natural timing of a male bird to sing the song, making them appear as a more pleasant partner than they actually are. A study also found that artificial light accelerated the rate that female blue tit birds laid their eggs by an average of 1.5 days. This leads to an incompatibility between peak food demand and peak food availability. As a result, the timing of reproduction becomes disarrayed in relation to the environment for great blue tits (Kempenaers, Borgstrom, Loes, Schlicht, & Valcu, 2010). Furthermore, a study exposed juncos birds to artificial light during the winter season in Edmonton, Alberta where bitter winters occur (DaSilva, Valcu, & Kempenaers, 2015). These birds, despite the severe winter season, engage in reproduction. Overall, this finding demonstrated that artificial light exposure to these birds altered their phenotypes to replicate warm conditions. Light alters a bird’s understanding of the length of day. Male blackbirds, for instance, have shown earlier testicular growth due to increased light exposure during the nighttime (DaSilva, Valcu, & Kempenaers, 2015). Light pollution can greatly deceive the perception of birds and lead to a change in their natural reproductive instincts. This can consequently influence their ability to produce offspring, affecting the future population of birds (Navara & Nelson, 2007). Artificial light inhibits the biological rhythm of birds, specifically their seasonal and daily functions. All species revolve their entire life’s activities around sunlight, whether hiding from predators or searching for food to eat. Furthermore, an organism’s circadian rhythm plays an essential role in detecting time changes in the natural lighting as well as anticipating the light changes of the future. Circadian rhythms play such a significant role that these internal mechanisms hold little value if not coordinated with environmental stimuli (Dominoni, 2015). They control the energy metabolism, body temperature, uptake of food, and locomotor functions (Gwinner, 1975). The daily rhythms of birds have also displayed a disruption as a result of light pollution. If exposed to artificial lighting during the nighttime, birds will continue their daily activities. According to Dominoni (2015), blackbirds residing in urban areas experience 49 minutes more of light compared to birds residing in forests (Dominoni, 2015). A study that compared city to forest songbirds found a decrease in circadian rhythmicity. Birds residing in cities experienced a 50 minute decrease in their circadian rhythm compared to birds residing in the forest (Dominoni et al., 2013). Circadian rhythm remains vital to a bird’s daily function; impeding its ability to regulate its internal system would threaten the wellbeing of the bird population.

References Chepesiuk, R. (2009). Missing the dark: health effects of light pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(1), A20. Ron Chepesiuk touches on a variety of ways that light pollution negatively impacts the health of birds in this scholarly journal article. He specifically discusses the confusion it causes with birds’ migration, specifically in New York City and collision with buildings. He also discusses the effect on sea turtle and frogs as well. He touches on how artificial light has extended the length of day and consequently impacts humans’ sleeping patterns. There has been links between breast cancer and exposure to artificial light at night. Some people believe that this may be due to melatonin, which decreases during light exposure, and a decrease in melatonin can increase the chance of getting breast cancer. He discusses both animals and humans’ impact from artificial light. This article is published in the Environmental Health Perspective Journal, a peer- reviewed journal that aims to use research to show the relationship between the wellbeing of humans and the environment. I used this article when discussing the confusion birds experience during migration due to illumination, and this article provided me specifically with a lot of statistics to strengthen my paper. Da Silva, A., Valcu, M., & Kempenaers, B. (2015). Light pollution alters the phenology of dawn and dusk singing in common European songbirds. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 370(1667), 20140126. Da Silva, Valcu, and Kempenaers conduct a study that hopes to show a correlation between the singing of birds and light pollution. Before going into his experiment, he discusses previous research related to his topic. Previous research has shown that artificial light has altered the behavior or birds during the day. Their goal was to see if there was a correlation between the singing of birds at dawn and dusk and light pollution. Dawn and dusk songs play an important role in choosing mates for birds. The study also looked to see if weather was related to the singing of birds as well. There were twelve different sites at which the experimenters look at the singing of birds over a period of over 3 months. Only one species was not impacted by artificial light. Singing also showed a decrease during rainy weather. Da Silva, Valcu, and Kempenaers work in the Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics at Max Planck Insitute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany. I used this source to show how artificial light influences birds’ phenotypes. Dominoni, D. M. (2015). The effects of light pollution on biological rhythms of birds: an integrated, mechanistic perspective. Journal of Ornithology, 156(1), 409-418. The aim of this article was to share information that is known regarding how light pollution influences the biological and underlying functions of birds. He goes into the mechanisms that explain the reasoning behind how light plays such an important role in synchronizing the daily and season activities of birds. He first discusses avian photoreception and the exact processes and how parts of this photoreception relies and is impacted by light. He offers diagrams, which illustrate how birds perceive lighting using their hypothalamus, retina, and pineal gland. He then discusses the link between light and their circadian rhythms, and how

photoreception plays an important role in this process. He discusses findings of previous studies such as light pollution affecting birds in the city, and how they offer a potential bias on the subject. He offers critique and makes suggestions about where research should be directed in the future to answer lingering questions that remain about the topic. This article is published in the scientific journal called the Journal of Ornithology. Davide Dominoni is a postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. I used this article to stress the importance of the circadian rhythm of birds, and how light pollution has extended their day into the nighttime. Dominoni, D. M., Helm, B., Lehmann, M., Dowse, H. B., & Partecke, J. (2013). Clocks for the city: circadian differences between forest and city songbirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 280(1763), 20130593. This article is a report on a study that was conducted by Dominoni, Helm, Lehmann, Dowse and Partecke. Their goal was to see if birds’ circadian clocks were altered as a result of urbanization. To look into this, they compared birds commonly found in the urban environment, specifically the Turdus merula or the European blackbird, to forest birds. European blackbirds typically reside in city areas in Europe and are nocturnal. They took twelve European blackbirds and twelve forest birds near Raisting, Germany, to use as subjects. They monitored their daily activity patterns throughout the experiment with automated recording units. They studied the same birds at the end of April into the end of June of 2010. They found that urban birds’ onset of activity started an average of 29 minutes before twilight, and that urban birds experienced a decrease in circadian rhythm as opposed to forest birds. This article is published in a scientific journal. Dominoni, Helm and Partecke all work in the Department of Migration and Immunoecology at the Mac Planck Institute for Ornithology. Lehmanne works at the Department of Biology at the University of Konstanz, and Dowse works in the Department of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine, making them credible authors of this source. I used this source to show how circadian rhythmicity was influenced in birds that reside in the city. Gwinner, E. (1975). Circadian and circannual rhythms in birds. Avian biology, 5, 221-285. This source is from a chapter in Gwinner’s book Avian Biology. This chapter focuses on the circadian rhythms in birds. It is an internal mechanism that regulates the functions of birds. Evidence has suggested that circadian rhythms are passed on from parents to offspring. Light intensity is also a factor that affects this biological clock as well. It also mentions the circannual rhythm of birds; the circadian rhythm regulates a birds daily functions, whereas the circannual rhythm regulates its functions for the year. The degree of light intensity also influences the rhythm of birds, and he uses a graph to help the reader visualize this alteration. It also discusses factors that entrain or synchronize the circannual and circadian rhythms, including Zeitgebers and acoustic stimuli. Zeitgebers are characteristics in the environment that coordinate their circannual and circadian rhythms, such as the intensity of light. This book is a compilation of papers written by Eberhard Gwinner, who was the founding director of the Max Planck Institute. I used information from his book to explain how the circadian rhythm regulates the body of birds.

Kempenaers, B., Borgström, P., Loës, P., Schlicht, E., & Valcu, M. (2010). Artificial night lighting affects dawn song, extra-pair siring success, and lay date in songbirds. Current Biology, 20(19), 1735-1739. This study hopes to answer lingering questions regarding the rising issue of light pollution and their effect on birds. They specifically looked at dawn song in five different species of songbirds. Earlier singing occurred in birds that were nearer to illumination from street lighting as opposed to other birds in the forest. Moreover, over a span of seven years, the experimenters looked at blue tit birds and their reproductive habits in specific locations, both with or lacking artificial light. They study showed that females exposed to artificial street lighting laid their eggs earlier than those who were not exposed. The concluded that light pollution yields has a significant impact on the bird population. It influenced their mating habits as well as the timing of reproduction. This study was published in the Current Biology Journal that publishes research across a great range of biological subjects. All authors work at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology. I used this article to show how artificial light negatively influences the reproductive habits of birds. Klem Jr, D. (2007). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 119(3), 519-521. This is a compilation of different literature relating to birds and discusses different books as well. It first discusses the book The White-Cheeked Geese, and which is a book about a study that looked at skeletons of geese, and observed them in their natural habitats as well. It goes on to break down the topics of each chapter that are covered in the book. It discusses a second book called Handbook of Australian, New Zelanad, & Antarctic Birds. It talks about different species of birds as well as different characteristics about them including food, breeding and habitat. The topic in which I wrote about was covered in a book discussed in this paper called Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting. This book was inspired by a lack of knowledge on the subject of artificial light at night. This instigated an international conference that laid the groundwork for this book. This article was published in the scholarly scientific journal, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. I used this source to show the repercussions of birds trying to find safety from artificial light in the city. Navara, K. J., & Nelson, R. J. (2007). The dark side of light at night: physiological, epidemiological, and ecological consequences. Journal of pineal research, 43(3), 215- 224. This article discusses the consequences of artificial light influencing the time-based mechanisms of birds. It first talks about where this artificial light is coming from. It comes from urban environments and working the night shift. The article talks about the physiological consequences to animals. It specifically mentions melatonin playing an important role in controlling physiological functions of birds, and how light pollution is changing the levels of melatonin. Light pollution has also influenced the metabolic functions in different species, including rats, chickens, and humans. Animals’ reproductive behaviors are also impacted by

artificial light use due to a change in their phenotypes. It also discusses its influences on foraging habits, predation, and migration. This article is published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, the Journal of Pineal Research. Both authors are in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at The Ohio State University. I used this source to emphasize how light impacts birds’ reproductive functions and ability to produce offspring. Poot, H., Ens, B., de Vries, H., Donners, M., Wernand, M., & Marquenie, J. (2008). Green light for nocturnally migrating birds. Ecology and Society, 13(2). This article discusses an experiment that was conducted to see if light pollution impacted the magnetic compass of birds. This magnetic compass aids in maintain their orientation. They were looking to see how different wavelengths and colors of lights affected their magnetic compass and orientation. Many articles talk about how light disorients birds, which can be disastrous to their health. This article touches on how the cause for this is unclear, and they hope to investigate light meddling with the magnetic compass as the reason for this disorientation. Their results showed that red light caused confusion for the birds, and green light barely influenced the birds. They suggest that altering the color of artificial lights could help save the bird population in the future. This article was published in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology and Society. I used this source to explain what may be causing the confusion birds experience from light pollution. Rodríguez, A., Holmes, N. D., Ryan, P. G., Wilson, K. J., Faulquier, L., Murillo, Y., ... & Negro, J. J. (2017). A global review of seabird mortality caused by land-based artificial lights. Conservation Biology. This article focuses on the disastrous consequences artificial light has posed on seabirds. It has changed their migration patterns and has forced them to land during their flight, which poses further danger to the birds. Fledglings are more at risk than adult birds. This article also talks about the reasons for confusion caused from artificial lighting is unknown. However, several hypotheses exist as to why the birds become disoriented. It could disrupt their visual field and they also mistake the light for food. The article offers suggestions to avoid this problem in the future. This includes turning of lights when they do not have to be lit, as well as reducing light emissions. Rescue programs are also a great way to help save the birds as well. Although they help with the issue, they are not enough to rectify the situation. This article was published in the Conservation Biology Journal, which is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. I used this source to explain how artificial light threatens seabirds.