Url
	https://wou.omeka.net/s/repository/item/1196
Title
	Artificial Light at Night as a Driver of Evolution Across Urban–Rural Landscapes
Creator
	Jennifer L. Hughes
	Debi Brannan
	Bradley Cannon
	Amber M. Anthenien
Subject
	artificial
	light
	night
	evolution
	urban
	rural
	ALAN
Publisher
	The Ecological Society of America
Date
	9/13/2018
Type
	Text; Image; StillImage
Identifier
	fac_pubs/47
Source
	Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment
Language
	eng
Abstract
	Light is fundamental to biological systems, affecting the daily rhythms of bacteria, plants, and animals. Artificial light at night ( ALAN ), a ubiquitous feature of urbanization, interferes with these rhythms and has the potential to exert strong selection pressures on organisms living in urban environments. ALAN also fragments landscapes, altering the movement of animals into and out of artificially lit habitats. Although research has documented phenotypic and genetic differentiation between urban and rural organisms, ALAN has rarely been considered as a driver of evolution. We argue that the fundamental importance of light to biological systems, and the capacity for ALAN to influence multiple processes contributing to evolution, makes this an important driver of evolutionary change, one with the potential to explain broad patterns of population differentiation across urban–rural landscapes. Integrating ALAN ’ s evolutionary potential into urban ecology is a targeted and powerful approach to understanding the capacity for life to adapt to an increasingly urbanized world.
Issue
	8
Page end
	479
Page start
	472
Volume
	16
Funded by
	Supported by an Australian Research Council (DP150101191) grant.
Department or school name within institution
	Biology
Note
	Copyright by the Ecological Society of America.

--