The Moon’s Contribution to Nighttime Illuminance in Different Environments

Todd, J. Jay; Barakat, Brandon; Tavassoli, Abtine; Krauss, David A.

doi:10.1177/1541931215591297

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…However, it is possible that a relationship might exist between lunar illumination and the nocturnal movement decisions of white-tailed deer at other times of the year. Lunar altitude and azimuth vary throughout the year due to the axial tilt of the earth and moon in their orbits, and the moon’s location in the sky has a greater influence on total lunar illumination than the phase of the moon (Todd et al, 2015; Veilleux and Cummings, 2012). Consequently, lunar illumination might play a more influential role in the nocturnal movement decisions of white-tailed deer during different seasons (e.g., winter vs summer).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Newman

Dyal

Miller

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Visual perception is dynamic and depends on physiological properties of a species visual system and physical characteristics of the environment. White–tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)are most sensitive to short– and mid–wavelength light (e.g., blue and green). Wavelength enrichment varies spatially and temporally across the landscape. We assessed how the visual perception of deer influences their movement decisions. From August–September 2019, we recorded 10–min locations from 15 GPS–collared adult male deer in Central Florida. We used Hidden–Markov models to identify periods of movement by deer and subset these data into three time periods based on temporal changes in light environments. We modeled resource selection during movement using path–selection functions and simulated 10 available paths for every used path. We developed five a priori models and used 10–fold cross validation to assess our top models performance for each period. During the day, deer selected to move through woodland shade, avoided forest shade, and neither selected nor avoided small gaps. At twilight, deer avoided wetlands as cloud cover increased but neither selected nor avoided other cover types. Visual cues and signals are likely more conspicuous to deer in short–wavelength–enriched woodland shade during the day, while at twilight in long–wavelength–enriched wetlands during cloud cover, visual cues are likely less conspicuous. The nocturnal light environment did not influence resource selection and likely has little effect on deer movements because its relatively homogenous. Our findings suggest visual perception relative to light environments is likely an underappreciated driver of behaviors and decision–making by an ungulate prey species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Newman

Dyal

Miller

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, it is possible that a relationship might exist between lunar illumination and the nocturnal movement decisions of white-tailed deer at other times of the year. Lunar altitude and azimuth vary throughout the year due to the axial tilt of the earth and moon in their orbits, and the moon's location in the sky has a greater influence on total lunar illumination than the phase of the moon ( Todd et al, 2015 ; Veilleux and Cummings, 2012 ). Consequently, lunar illumination might play a more influential role in the nocturnal movement decisions of white-tailed deer during different seasons (e.g., winter versus summer).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Newman,

Dyal,

Miller

et al. 2023

Biology Open

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Visual perception is dynamic and depends on physiological properties of a species’ visual system and physical characteristics of the environment. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are most sensitive to short- and mid-wavelength light (e.g. blue and green). Wavelength enrichment varies spatially and temporally across the landscape. We assessed how the visual perception of deer influences their movement decisions. From August to September 2019, we recorded 10-min locations from 15 GPS-collared adult male deer in Central Florida. We used Hidden-Markov models to identify periods of movement by deer and subset these data into three time periods based on temporal changes in light environments. We modeled resource selection during movement using path-selection functions and simulated 10 available paths for every path used. We developed five a priori models and used 10-fold cross validation to assess our top model's performance for each time period. During the day, deer selected to move through woodland shade, avoided forest shade, and neither selected nor avoided small gaps. At twilight, deer avoided wetlands as cloud cover increased but neither selected nor avoided other cover types. Visual cues and signals are likely more conspicuous to deer in short-wavelength-enriched woodland shade during the day, while at twilight in long-wavelength-enriched wetlands during cloud cover, visual cues are likely less conspicuous. The nocturnal light environment did not influence resource selection and likely has little effect on deer movements because it's relatively homogenous. Our findings suggest visual perception relative to light environments is likely an underappreciated driver of behaviors and decision-making by an ungulate prey species.

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Influence of moon and clouds on night illumination in two different spectral ranges

Krieg

2021

Sci Rep

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The variable brightness of the night sky affects plants as well as animals and humans. However, knowledge about this variability is still insufficient. Outstanding questions regarding how significant the influence of the moon, clouds, and artificial lighting remain. To be able to make statements about these effects, measurements over a long period of time are necessary. Fraunhofer IOSB performs such measurements in the 380–780 nm photopic visual and 800–1700 nm shortwave infrared spectral range. As the latter is only marginally affected by artificial lighting, a comparison of the two bands deepens insight into the influence of artificial lighting. First analyses show that the moon is, as expected, the dominant light source in the night sky, especially during a full moon. Illuminance values up to 200 mlx and irradiance values up to 600 µW/m2 were measured in the visible and infrared respectively. The influence of clouds is more complicated. The measured intensities depend, among other things, on cloud cover and cloud altitude. When the night sky is overcast, the measured intensities can drop as low as 0.5 mlx and 0.5 µW/m2, respectively. These small values were measured during rainfall. The influence of artificial illumination is difficult to estimate, as intensities in the shortwave infrared decrease with increasing cloud cover, but increase in the visual.

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The Moon’s Contribution to Nighttime Illuminance in Different Environments

Cited by 4 publications

References 10 publications

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Influence of visual perception on movement decisions by an ungulate prey species

Influence of moon and clouds on night illumination in two different spectral ranges

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