Influence of artificial light at night on pond plankton community with special reference to seasonal succession: A pilot study

Abstract

Artificial Light at Night has been shown to have various effects on aquatic communities in various habitats. Planktonic organisms are an integral part of extensive and semi-intensive carp culture ponds and play the role of food organisms for many aquaculture species in the pond ecosystem. Therefore, a study has been conducted to understand how the practice of artificial illumination for security purposes after dark affects the plankton community of aquaculture ponds. The plankton diversity and density in illuminated and non-illuminated carp polyculture ponds at the Instructional Fish Farm of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, in the Terai region of Uttarakhand, India, was studied from November 2019 to March 2020, to determine the influence of ALAN on the seasonal succession of the community. The study reveals that artificial illumination influences the plankton density, diversity as well as the stage of fall and spring seasonal succession in these ponds.