ABS 2023
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Effects of light pollution on the behavior of tadpoles of Dryophytes arenicolor.
Jesus E. Sanchez, Monserrat Suarez, Hibraim A. Perez. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, UNAM, Tlalnepantla, Mexico, Mexico

Anthropogenic pollution is a great problem, not only for humans but for all organisms on earth. The main sources of pollution are urban settlements. One type of pollution is light pollution, due to artificial light at night, or turbidity caused by pollutants, like gasses and particles on air or different particles on water. Many researchers have tried to assess the impact of this type of pollution on the behavior, development and interspecific interactions of different animals, such as insects, fish, birds and mammals, but there is little research regarding reptiles and amphibians. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is an effect of this type of pollution on the behavior of tadpoles of Dryophytes arenicolor, a widespread frog species that is found from the south of Mexico to Utah, USA. We exposed tadpoles of D. arenicolor with three different treatments. We recorded them. We used BORIS software to register their activity time and we analyzed the data employing generalized linear mixed models. We found that artificial light at night increases their activity time while water turbidity reduces it.