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 SCOTOBIOLOGY
The
word Scotobiology was first introduced in the Ecology of
the Night newsletter dated May 2002, the graphic element and brief
description accompanied all subsequent literature on the Dark Sky
Symposium held in Muskoka, Canada, September 22 -24, 2003.
If
you have comments, criticisms, or suggestions about the use or definition
of the new word Scotobiology, please contact the author R.G.S. Bidwell
at the address below, or use the following e-mails goeringp@sympatico.ca;
info@muskokaheritage.org
Peter
Goering
Director, MUSKOKA HERITAGE FOUNDATION,
Chair, ECOLOGY OF THE NIGHT SYMPOSIUM
SCOTOBIOLOGY
– THE BIOLOGY OF THE DARK
 Scotobiology
is the study of Biology as affected by darkness. The term is derived
from the old Greek word, scotos or skotos, for the dark. Virtually
all biological systems have evolved in a world of alternating day
and night and they have become irrevocably adapted to the pattern
of light and darkness. Light, of course, is necessary for biological
activities such as sight and photosynthesis, which are studied in
the science of photobiology. But the presence of darkness, and its
alternation with light, is just as important. Scotobiology is the
science of darkness: the positive aspects of the effects of darkness
on biology, not merely the absence of light.
Some of the biological and behavioural activities of plants, animals
(including birds and amphibians), insects and microorganisms are
either adversely affected by light or can only function effectively
in darkness. Such activities include foraging, breeding and social
behaviour in higher animals, amphibians and insects, which are all
affected in various ways if light pollution occurs in their environment.
But perhaps the most important scotobiological phenomena relate
to the alternation of light and darkness. These include breeding
behaviour in a range of animals, the control of flowering and the
induction of dormancy in many plants, and the operational control
of the human immune system. In many of these biological interactions
the critical point is the length of the dark period rather than
the light. One consequence of light pollution is that it frequently
prevents plants or animals (including humans) from measuring the
length of dark periods. This is a most important aspect of scotobiology,
and one of the major areas in the study of the responses of biological
systems to darkness.
Scotobiology
is a gathering together under a single descriptive heading of a
range of studies on the biology of darkness, some of which have
been going on for over a century. It is an important part of the
analysis of the necessity of the dark sky – not only for humans,
but for all biological systems.
R.G.S.
Bidwell,
Professor Emeritus, QUEENS UNIVERSITY
RR
#1, Wallace, Nova Scotia
Canada B0K1Y0
SCOTOBIOLOGY
- THE BIOLOGY OF DARKNESS - More info
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