When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds
Circadian clocks are centrally involved in the regulation of daily behavioural and physiological processes. These clocks are synchronized to the 24-hour day by external cues (Zeitgeber), the most important of which is the light-dark cycle. In polar environments, however, the strength of the Zeitgebe...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/1/79859.pdf |
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:79859 2023-05-15T14:27:12+02:00 When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds Steiger, S.S. Valcu, M. Spoelstra, K. Helm, B. Wikelski, M. Kempenaers, B. 2013 text https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/1/79859.pdf en eng The Royal Society https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/1/79859.pdf Steiger, S.S., Valcu, M., Spoelstra, K., Helm, B. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/28755.html>, Wikelski, M. and Kempenaers, B. (2013) When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London_Series_B=3A_Biological_Sciences.html>, 280(1764), (doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1016 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1016>) cc_by CC-BY Articles PeerReviewed 2013 ftuglasgow https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1016 2022-09-22T22:11:25Z Circadian clocks are centrally involved in the regulation of daily behavioural and physiological processes. These clocks are synchronized to the 24-hour day by external cues (Zeitgeber), the most important of which is the light-dark cycle. In polar environments, however, the strength of the Zeitgeber is greatly reduced around the summer and winter solstices (continuous daylight or continuous darkness). How animals time their behaviour under such conditions has rarely been studied in the wild. Using a radio-telemetry-based system, we investigated daily activity rhythms under continuous daylight in Barrow, Alaska, throughout the breeding season in four bird species that differ in mating system and parental behaviour. We find substantial diversity in daily activity rhythms depending on species, sex and breeding stage. Individuals exhibited either robust, entrained 24-hour activity cycles, were continuously active (arrhythmic), or showed “free-running” activity cycles. In semipalmated sandpipers, a shorebird with biparental incubation, we show that the free-running rhythm is synchronized between pair mates. The diversity of diel time-keeping under continuous daylight emphasizes the plasticity of the circadian system and the importance of the social and life-history context. Our results support the idea that circadian behaviour can be adaptively modified to enable species-specific time-keeping under polar conditions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Barrow Alaska University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Arctic Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 1764 20131016 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
language |
English |
description |
Circadian clocks are centrally involved in the regulation of daily behavioural and physiological processes. These clocks are synchronized to the 24-hour day by external cues (Zeitgeber), the most important of which is the light-dark cycle. In polar environments, however, the strength of the Zeitgeber is greatly reduced around the summer and winter solstices (continuous daylight or continuous darkness). How animals time their behaviour under such conditions has rarely been studied in the wild. Using a radio-telemetry-based system, we investigated daily activity rhythms under continuous daylight in Barrow, Alaska, throughout the breeding season in four bird species that differ in mating system and parental behaviour. We find substantial diversity in daily activity rhythms depending on species, sex and breeding stage. Individuals exhibited either robust, entrained 24-hour activity cycles, were continuously active (arrhythmic), or showed “free-running” activity cycles. In semipalmated sandpipers, a shorebird with biparental incubation, we show that the free-running rhythm is synchronized between pair mates. The diversity of diel time-keeping under continuous daylight emphasizes the plasticity of the circadian system and the importance of the social and life-history context. Our results support the idea that circadian behaviour can be adaptively modified to enable species-specific time-keeping under polar conditions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steiger, S.S. Valcu, M. Spoelstra, K. Helm, B. Wikelski, M. Kempenaers, B. |
spellingShingle |
Steiger, S.S. Valcu, M. Spoelstra, K. Helm, B. Wikelski, M. Kempenaers, B. When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
author_facet |
Steiger, S.S. Valcu, M. Spoelstra, K. Helm, B. Wikelski, M. Kempenaers, B. |
author_sort |
Steiger, S.S. |
title |
When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
title_short |
When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
title_full |
When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
title_fullStr |
When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
title_sort |
when the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/1/79859.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Barrow Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Barrow Alaska |
op_relation |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79859/1/79859.pdf Steiger, S.S., Valcu, M., Spoelstra, K., Helm, B. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/28755.html>, Wikelski, M. and Kempenaers, B. (2013) When the sun never sets: diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London_Series_B=3A_Biological_Sciences.html>, 280(1764), (doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1016 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1016>) |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1016 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
280 |
container_issue |
1764 |
container_start_page |
20131016 |
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1766300821552627712 |