Meeting Abstract
A significant amount research exploring the impacts of light pollution and artificial lighting at night has focused on vertebrates. The lack of literature on invertebrate species, especially aquatic invertebrates, is an important gap in knowledge. Aquatic invertebrates are often keystone species; thus, any changes within the organisms themselves can severely affect entire ecosystems. We investigated how properties light at night had altered the physiology and behavior within two different aquatic invertebrates, the virile crayfish (Faxonius virilis) and rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus). Data was collected for ten weeks at the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) in Pellston, MI. Behavioral data was measured as the overall time spent consuming food, hiding in shelters, as well as the amount, duration, and intensity of agonistic interactions. Hemolymph was obtained to quantify the stress levels within the crayfish as a physiological response. Exposure to a higher intensity of light and the presence of ultraviolet light induced a behavioral trend, resulting in lower amounts of social interactions within both species of crayfish. Due to the importance of freshwater ecosystems and the role crayfish play as a keystone species, examining how crayfish are impacted from ecological light pollution is imperative to maintaining the health of aquatic ecosystems.
