Chronobiology by moonlight

2013/07/03 by Noga Kronfeld‐Schor, Noga Kronfeld-Schor, Davide M. Dominoni +8 · 245 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Adaptive value #Biology #Chronobiology #Circadian rhythm #Ecology #Foraging #Habitat #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Light pollution #Marine and coastal plant biology #Marine animal studies overview #Moonlight #Predation

paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.3088

published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 280(1765), 20123088 (Royal Society)

openalex publication_date 2013/07/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

Most studies in chronobiology focus on solar cycles (daily and annual). Moonlight and the lunar cycle received considerably less attention by chronobiologists. An exception are rhythms in intertidal species. Terrestrial ecologists long ago acknowledged the effects of moonlight on predation success, and consequently on predation risk, foraging behaviour and habitat use, while marine biologists have focused more on the behaviour and mainly on reproduction synchronization with relation to the Moon phase. Lately, several studies in different animal taxa addressed the role of moonlight in determining activity and studied the underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we review the ecological and behavioural evidence showing the effect of moonlight on activity, discuss the adaptive value of these changes, and describe possible mechanisms underlying this effect. We will also refer to other sources of night-time light ('light pollution') and highlight open questions that demand further studies.

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