A study has found that urban nocturnal light
makes European blackbirds develop reproductive systems a month before their
woodland counterparts.
Birds exposed to higher light levels developed
functional testes on average 26 days earlier than control birds.
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| Photo: Christian Ziegler |
Further results suggested that urbanisation may
alter the physiological traits of songbirds.
Scientists say the findings highlight the
consequences of artificial lighting on the ecology of urban animals.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings
of the Royal Society B.
Davide Dominoni, from the Max Planck Institute
for Ornithology in Germany and part of the research team told BBC Nature:
"We knew that birds in urban areas sing earlier in the morning and breed
earlier in season than conspecifics living in rural habitats."
"There was evidence that urban blackbirds
showed not only advanced egg-laying date, but the whole reproductive physiology
was turned on approximately three weeks before than in rural birds."
The scientists, from the Max Planck Institute
and Konstanz University in Germany, measured the nocturnal light levels that
eight "free-roaming" European blackbirds (Turdus merula) were exposed to in the field using miniature light
loggers.
Read on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21430015
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