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MSThesisSubmission_MGilboy.pdf (5.73 MB)

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Impacts of artificial light at night on space use and trophic dynamics of urban riparian mammals in Columbus, Ohio

Gilboy, Michael Joseph
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658448942287613

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a growing environmental stressor due to human expansion and increased urbanization. ALAN has shown to have significant impacts on a suite of taxa and on multiple levels of biological organization, but most research has focused on individual to population levels of biological organization. Furthermore, there has been a disproportionate research emphasis on terrestrial vs. aquatic ecosystems. In this study, I investigated the impacts of ALAN on riparian mammal space use and food webs along 12 small streams in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Seasonality and time of day were the strongest drivers of mammal community composition along streams, despite the presence of ALAN. Seasonality, sediment size, and other site-level differences, but not ALAN, were associated with total mammal space use and species richness. No species-specific small mammal captures or species/guild-specific camera-trap encounters were impacted by ALAN. In the context of this study, sediment size is likely a proxy for either stream size or urbanization but also a potentially important structural factor related to small-mammal movement across streams. ALAN presence was related to the proportion of energy derived from aquatic vs. terrestrial primary producer pathways in the genus Peromyscus, the only small mammals with sufficient sample size to estimate diet proportions. At illuminated reaches, Peromyscus nutritional subsidies derived from aquatic primary producer pathways (i.e., originating from stream periphyton) were 1.2% lower at lit compared to unlit reaches. Canopy cover was also associated with the proportion of energy derived from the terrestrial primary producer pathway that is indirectly consumed by Peromyscus (i.e., originating from aquatic detritus). Site – as a random effect in linear-mixed models – explained the greatest amount of variation in the proportion of energy derived from different primary producer pathways. Overall, I did not find evidence that ALAN was associated with mammal space use or community composition in the riparian areas that I studied, but I did find evidence that ALAN was related to trophic interactions of small mammals and the type of energy sources they consumed. However, changes in energy subsidies were small and may not be ecologically consequential. These results can be used in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to establish potential roadway lighting thresholds to minimize lighting impacts on mammals that use riparian areas in urban centers. Current lighting levels (>3.5 lux) could be used as a threshold to prevent mammal habitat use impacts by ALAN. Further studies should experimentally increase light intensity and area of ALAN infiltration around streams, considering the home range sizes of mammals, to better understand possible ALAN impacts on mammal habitat use and food web interactions.
Mažeika Sullivan (Advisor)
Robert Gates (Committee Member)
Stanley Gehrt (Committee Member)
127 p.
Ecology; Environmental Science; Natural Resource Management; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management
artificial light at night; ALAN; urban mammals; mammal communities; mammal space use; aquatic-riparian linkages; food webs; space use; trophic dynamics; camera traps; live traps

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gilboy, M. J. (2022). Impacts of artificial light at night on space use and trophic dynamics of urban riparian mammals in Columbus, Ohio [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658448942287613

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gilboy, Michael. Impacts of artificial light at night on space use and trophic dynamics of urban riparian mammals in Columbus, Ohio. 2022. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658448942287613.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gilboy, Michael. "Impacts of artificial light at night on space use and trophic dynamics of urban riparian mammals in Columbus, Ohio." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658448942287613

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1658448942287613
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.