任何一位露營(yíng)者都知道,，飛蛾以及其他的飛蟲喜歡追尋明亮的燈光,。它們似乎總是迷戀走廊燈,、前照燈或者營(yíng)地篝火,，即使這會(huì)導(dǎo)致它們最終走向死亡,。當(dāng)然，這和飛蛾具有的正趨光性有關(guān),。然而,，如今一項(xiàng)最新的研究表明，即使是爬蟲動(dòng)物也會(huì)被光亮所吸引,。
當(dāng)研究人員把英國赫爾斯頓市的草地翻了個(gè)底朝天后,，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，諸如螞蟻,、甲蟲和盲蜘蛛一類的爬蟲動(dòng)物,，更有可能在路燈發(fā)出的光亮最強(qiáng)的地方聚集。這可以讓尋找食物變得更為簡(jiǎn)單,，研究人員推測(cè),。
同時(shí)，這種效果看起來似乎具有永久性：即使是在白天,，這些邁著“碎步”的爬蟲們也會(huì)在光亮的場(chǎng)所附近徘徊,。5月23日，研究團(tuán)隊(duì)在英國皇家學(xué)會(huì)期刊《生物學(xué)快報(bào)》（Biology Letters）上在線發(fā)表了該成果,。
這提示人們,，人造光源（如圖中所示的兩種情況）可能會(huì)對(duì)自然生態(tài)系統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生持久的影響，改變著生活在某一社區(qū)的物種們居住和捕食的地方,，同時(shí)有可能對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)氐氖澄锞W(wǎng)進(jìn)行重新排序,。
這樣來說，燈光的威力的確無比強(qiáng)大。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0216
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Street lighting changes the composition of invertebrate communities
Thomas W. Davies*, Jonathan Bennie and Kevin J. Gaston
Artificial lighting has been used to illuminate the nocturnal environment for centuries and continues to expand with urbanization and economic development. Yet, the potential ecological impact of the resultant light pollution has only recently emerged as a major cause for concern. While investigations have demonstrated that artificial lighting can influence organism behaviour, reproductive success and survivorship, none have addressed whether it is altering the composition of communities. We show, for the first time, that invertebrate community composition is affected by proximity to street lighting independently of the time of day. Five major invertebrate groups contributed to compositional differences, resulting in an increase in the number of predatory and scavenging individuals in brightly lit communities. Our results indicate that street lighting changes the environment at higher levels of biological organization than previously recognized, raising the potential that it can alter the structure and function of ecosystems.
