Environmental Effects on the Circadian Systems of a Diurnal (Rhabdomys

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Environmental Effects on the Circadian Systems of a Diurnal (Rhabdomys Environmental effects on the circadian systems of a diurnal (Rhabdomys dilectus) and nocturnal (Micaelamys namaquensis) rodent species: with specific reference to light pollution. by: Simone Ackermann Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Zoology in the Department of Zoology and Entomology Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA September 2019 1 Declaration I, Simone Ackermann declare that the dissertation/thesis, which I hereby submit for the degree MSc Zoology at the University of Pretoria, is my own work and has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at this or any other tertiary institution. Signature Student name Simone Ackermann Month Year September 2019 2 Acknowledgments I have had the very good fortune to be supported by many people, institutions and agencies during my MSc studies all of whom have made this thesis possible. Each one supported my work in their own way, whether it was through lending financial aid or intellectual support, without each individual contribution the research conducted for this thesis would not have been possible. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors; Dr. Maria Oosthuizen and Prof Nigel Bennett. They allowed me to pursue my own ideas and topic and lent their vast knowledge, experience and patience during all the planning, analysis and writing. Their input during my writing process has been invaluable, their comments always guiding me toward better scientific writing. They have truly shown me what is means to be an excellent researcher and set me up to be successful and methodical in any future work. I would like to thank my three very best friends and field work assistants, Leanne Ray, Marié de Vos and Liezl Kruger for their endless support, insights and proof reading of drafts. They trekked after many a Sherman trap and fed many a mouse at my side, sat through many hours of statistics analysis and interpretation, listened to my philosophical ramblings as I tried making sense of my results and always helped me forward when it felt like I was stuck. A special thank you to my parents, Rita and Kobus Ackermann for their love and support, even during the most trying times. It is with their encouragement that I was able to pursue a master’s degree. My father deserves special mention as without him none of the work in chapter 4 would have taken place. He helped in designing the lighting and battery system used during the experiment, using his expertise in power generation technology. Finally, I would like to thank my boyfriend Giehard Hessel who was an ever-present source of inspiration and comfort. He has seen the good, the bad and the downright ugly parts of this thesis and its writer and yet he always had a word of reassurance that kept me going through many late nights and cups of coffee. Thank you 3 Table of Contents Declaration ................................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... 3 List of Figures and Tables ........................................................................................................... 7 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: General Introduction .............................................................................................. 11 Chapter 2: Effects of enrichment, natural light cycles, temperature and artificial light at night on the locomotor activity of a captive nocturnal (Micaelamys namaquensis) and a diurnal (Rhabdomys dilectus) rodent. .................................................................................................. 16 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 16 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 19 Animal Capture and Housing ........................................................................................... 19 Experimental Setup .......................................................................................................... 20 Light Cycles ....................................................................................................................... 20 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 21 Results .................................................................................................................................. 22 12L: 12D without enrichment .......................................................................................... 22 12L: 12D with environmental enrichment ....................................................................... 22 Simulated dawn-dusk light cycle ..................................................................................... 28 Dawn-dusk light cycle with natural temperature cycle ................................................... 28 Halogen light at night ....................................................................................................... 29 LED light at night .............................................................................................................. 30 Discussion............................................................................................................................. 36 General locomotor activity .............................................................................................. 36 Effect of environmental enrichment ............................................................................... 36 Exposure to dawn and dusk ............................................................................................. 37 4 Natural ambient temperature cycle ................................................................................ 38 Halogen light at night ....................................................................................................... 40 LED light at night .............................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 3: The impact of environmental enrichment, natural light cycles, temperature and artificial light at night on the stress responses of nocturnal (Micaelamys namaquensis) and diurnal (Rhabdomys dilectus) rodent. ..................................................................................... 43 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 43 Methods and Materials ........................................................................................................ 46 Animal Capture and Housing ........................................................................................... 46 Urine Collection ............................................................................................................... 46 Hormone Extraction and Creatinine Determination ....................................................... 47 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 48 Results .................................................................................................................................. 48 Rhabdomys dilectus ......................................................................................................... 48 Micaelamys namaquensis ................................................................................................ 50 Discussion............................................................................................................................. 54 The effect of environmental enrichment ........................................................................ 54 Effect of dawn-dusk simulation ....................................................................................... 55 Temporal temperature cycle ........................................................................................... 56 Artificial light at night ...................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4: The impact of different spectral compositions of artificial light at night on the foraging behaviour of naïve nocturnal rodent communities. ................................................. 61 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 61 Methods and Materials ........................................................................................................ 65 Site Description ................................................................................................................ 65 Animal Trapping ............................................................................................................... 65 5 Illumination Setup ............................................................................................................ 65 Artificial Foraging Patches ............................................................................................... 66 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................
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