Skyglow increases cyanobacteria abundance and organic matter cycling in lakes
Artificial light propagating towards the night sky can be scattered back to Earth and reach ecosystems tens of kilometres away from the original light source. This phenomenon is known as artificial skyglow. Its consequences on freshwaters are largely unknown. In a large-scale lake enclosure experiment, we found that skyglow at levels of 0.06 and 6 lux increased the abundance of anoxygenic aerobic phototrophs and cyanobacteria by 32 (±22) times. An ecosystem metabolome analysis revealed that skyglow increased the production of algal-derived metabolites, which appeared to stimulate heterotrophic activities as well. Furthermore, we found evidence that skyglow decreased the number of bacteria-bacteria interactions. Effects of skyglow were more pronounced at night, suggesting that responses to skyglow can occur on short time scales. Overall, our results call for considering skyglow as a reality of increasing importance for microbial communities and carbon cycling in lake ecosystems.
Authors
- Gabriel Singer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7389-9788)
- Hans‐Peter Grossart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9141-0325)
- Stella A. Berger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8835-545X)
- Andreas Jechow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7596-6366)
- Lukas Thuile Bistarelli
- Sabine Wollrab (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2430-4845)
- Thorsten Dittmar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-0107)
- Franz Hölker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-266X)
- Jason Nicholas Woodhouse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1129-5396)
- Luis Alberto Villalba
- Christopher C. M. Kyba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-1843)
- Tom Shatwell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4520-7916)
- Mark O. Gessner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2516-7416)
- Jens C. Nejstgaard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1236-0647)
- Susanne Stephan
- Tim J. W. Walles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3516-6150)
- Jérémy André Fonvielle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8077-2419)
- Yile Tao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4418-3959)
- Franziska Kupprat
Institutions
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (DE)
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE)
- Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Water Research
- Published
- 2025-02-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2025.123315
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.17
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft