Schelling-Forum: Artificial light at night: from photons to neurons and behaviour

Though they often evade our day-adapted eyes, a large proportion of animal species are active at night. Nocturnal animals are important pillars of diverse ecosystems, and as such contribute to crucial ecosystem functions. Many make use of the sparse light available at night for the visual control of behaviours, such as orientation, foraging or mating. This behavioural guidance, and with it the survival of nocturnal species, is threatened by artificial light at night (ALAN), which can interfere with the visual systems of nocturnal animals. To understand the consequences of ALAN on the visual system and behaviours of nocturnal animals, and ultimately on the ecosystems they are integrated within, this multi-faceted problem has to be approached from numerous angles: environmental imaging, ecology, ethology, sensory physiology, and neurobiology—to name but a few. This workshop will highlight research from the various disciplines concerned with ALAN and night vision, and provides a platform for interdisciplinary discussion to develop an integrated perspective on this current challenge to the sensory ecology of nocturnal animals.