ArticleJournal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology2018
Dose-response effects of light at night on the reproductive physiology of great tits (Parus major): Integrating morphological analyses with candidate gene expression.
Article in Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Artificial Light at Night Consistently Impacts Avian Physiology and Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis.Ecology letters · 2026Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of biological impacts of artificial light at night.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Pooled it
- Brighter nights, greater health risks: intensity-dependent disruptions by nighttime light exposure on sleep and metabolism in diurnal zebra finches.Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2026Article
- The ecological importance of natural dark nights for circadian organization, metabolism and reproduction in birds.BMC ecology and evolution · 2026Review
- Non-chemical, chemical, and biochemical, endocrine disruptors: biphasic health effects and pathophysiological insights.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Environmental light deprivation disrupts Leydig cell maturation and male reproductive development in rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Partial night lighting may reduce the physiological impact of artificial light at night on captive zebra finches.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Endocrine-circadian interactions in birds: implications when nights are no longer dark.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- Integrated molecular and behavioural data reveal deep circadian disruption in response to artificial light at night in male Great tits (Parus major).Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Light at Night and Disrupted Circadian Rhythms Alter Physiology and Behavior.Integrative and comparative biology · 2021Review
- Effects of dim artificial light at night on locomotor activity, cardiovascular physiology, and circadian clock genes in a diurnal songbird.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2021Article
- Wavelength-dependent effects of artificial light at night on phytoplankton growth and community structure.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Sex-and Region-Dependent Expression of the Autism-Linked ADNP Correlates with Social- and Speech-Related Genes in the Canary Brain.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2020Article
- Artificial light at night amplifies seasonal relapse of haemosporidian parasites in a widespread songbird.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Artificial light at night, in interaction with spring temperature, modulates timing of reproduction in a passerine bird.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2020Article
- Light at night disrupts diel patterns of cytokine gene expression and endocrine profiles in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata).Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Global climate change and invariable photoperiods: A mismatch that jeopardizes animal fitness.Ecology and evolution · 2019Review
- The preference and costs of sleeping under light at night in forest and urban great tits.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Artificial light at night as an environmental pollutant: An integrative approach across taxa, biological functions, and scientific disciplines.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2018Article
- Dose-response effects of light at night on the reproductive physiology of great tits (Parus major): Integrating morphological analyses with candidate gene expression.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasingly recognized as a potential threat to wildlife and ecosystem health. Among the ecological effects of ALAN, changes in reproductive timing are frequently reported, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are still poorly understood. Here, we experimentally investigated these mechanisms by assessing dose-dependent photoperiodic responses to ALAN in the great tit (Parus major). We individually exposed photosensitive male birds to one of three nocturnal light levels (0.5, 1.5, and 5 lux), or to a dark control. Subsequent histological and molecular analyses on their testes indicated a dose-dependent reproductive response to ALAN. Specifically, different stages of gonadal growth were activated after exposure to different levels of light at night. mRNA transcript levels of genes linked to the development of germ cells (stra8 and spo11) were increased under 0.5 lux compared to the dark control. The 0.5 and 1.5 lux groups showed slight increases in testis size and transcript levels associated with steroid synthesis (lhr and hsd3b1) and spermatogenesis (fshr, wt1, sox9, and cldn11), although spermatogenesis was not detected in histological analysis. In contrast, all birds under 5 lux had 10 to 30 times larger testes than birds in all other groups, with a parallel strong increase in mRNA transcript levels and clear signs of spermatogenesis. Across treatments, the volume of the testes was generally a good predictor of testicular transcript levels. Overall, our findings indicate that even small changes in nocturnal light intensity can increase, or decrease, effects on the reproductive physiology of wild organisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.