Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.

The diurnal cycle of light and dark is one of the strongest environmental factors for life on Earth. Many species in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems use the level of ambient light to regulate their metabolism, growth, and behavior. The sky glow caused by artificial lighting from urban areas...

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Autores principales:	Christopher C M Kyba, Thomas Ruhtz, Jürgen Fischer, Franz Hölker
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/76138bef7cc1440fa360ea5f9ecb6957
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:76138bef7cc1440fa360ea5f9ecb6957
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:76138bef7cc1440fa360ea5f9ecb69572021-11-18T06:57:53ZCloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0017307https://doaj.org/article/76138bef7cc1440fa360ea5f9ecb69572011-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21399694/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The diurnal cycle of light and dark is one of the strongest environmental factors for life on Earth. Many species in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems use the level of ambient light to regulate their metabolism, growth, and behavior. The sky glow caused by artificial lighting from urban areas disrupts this natural cycle, and has been shown to impact the behavior of organisms, even many kilometers away from the light sources. It could be hypothesized that factors that increase the luminance of the sky amplify the degree of this "ecological light pollution". We show that cloud coverage dramatically amplifies the sky luminance, by a factor of 10.1 for one location inside of Berlin and by a factor of 2.8 at 32 km from the city center. We also show that inside of the city overcast nights are brighter than clear rural moonlit nights, by a factor of 4.1. These results have important implications for choronobiological and chronoecological studies in urban areas, where this amplification effect has previously not been considered.Christopher C M KybaThomas RuhtzJürgen FischerFranz HölkerPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 3, p e17307 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Christopher C M Kyba Thomas Ruhtz Jürgen Fischer Franz Hölker Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
description	The diurnal cycle of light and dark is one of the strongest environmental factors for life on Earth. Many species in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems use the level of ambient light to regulate their metabolism, growth, and behavior. The sky glow caused by artificial lighting from urban areas disrupts this natural cycle, and has been shown to impact the behavior of organisms, even many kilometers away from the light sources. It could be hypothesized that factors that increase the luminance of the sky amplify the degree of this "ecological light pollution". We show that cloud coverage dramatically amplifies the sky luminance, by a factor of 10.1 for one location inside of Berlin and by a factor of 2.8 at 32 km from the city center. We also show that inside of the city overcast nights are brighter than clear rural moonlit nights, by a factor of 4.1. These results have important implications for choronobiological and chronoecological studies in urban areas, where this amplification effect has previously not been considered.
format	article
author	Christopher C M Kyba Thomas Ruhtz Jürgen Fischer Franz Hölker
author_facet	Christopher C M Kyba Thomas Ruhtz Jürgen Fischer Franz Hölker
author_sort	Christopher C M Kyba
title	Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
title_short	Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
title_full	Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
title_fullStr	Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
title_full_unstemmed	Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
title_sort	cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/76138bef7cc1440fa360ea5f9ecb6957
work_keys_str_mv	AT christophercmkyba cloudcoverageactsasanamplifierforecologicallightpollutioninurbanecosystems AT thomasruhtz cloudcoverageactsasanamplifierforecologicallightpollutioninurbanecosystems AT jurgenfischer cloudcoverageactsasanamplifierforecologicallightpollutioninurbanecosystems AT franzholker cloudcoverageactsasanamplifierforecologicallightpollutioninurbanecosystems
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Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.

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