Scientists Test New Experimental Infrastructure to Study Light Pollution in Antarctica

A team led by researchers from the One Health Institute at Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) conducted an experimental campaign to study the effects of light pollution and global warming in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region.

The expedition included the collection of samples from several species in the Strait of Magellan, along with laboratory experiments, marking a decisive step in the development of a new line of research on the Antarctic continent.

The campaign is part of the DIPOLE research program, led by UNAB and funded by Chile’s National Research and Development Agency (ANID). The program seeks to study the combined effects of light pollution and global warming on Antarctic coastal ecosystems. It brings together researchers from Universidad de Playa Ancha (UPLA) and Universidad de Concepción (UdeC), with support from the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH).

Infrastructure That Recreates Natural Conditions

The primary objective of this first stage was to deploy and validate the experimental mesocosms in the field. This scientific infrastructure is designed to recreate a natural ecosystem under controlled conditions.

These systems allow researchers to simulate different scenarios found in nature and evaluate how marine organisms respond to environmental stressors, effectively serving as a bridge between laboratory and field research.

Dr. José Pulgar, director of DIPOLE and a researcher at UNAB’s One Health Institute, said the work had been highly successful:

“We successfully maintained the animals under the light pollution and temperature fluctuations recorded in Punta Arenas. This allowed us to conduct bioenergetic assessments and collect tissue samples to evaluate enzyme activity.”

How Scientists Study the Effects of Light Pollution in Antarctica

During this first stage, the team worked with subantarctic vertebrates, invertebrates, plankton, and macroalgae that are closely related to Antarctic species. The researchers used these organisms as models to understand how polar ecosystems might respond to future global change scenarios.

The researchers collected samples from coastal areas and exposed them to different treatments combining higher temperatures and ALAN. The purpose was to evaluate the combined effects of these two factors on marine organisms.

Deploying the mesocosms represents an important step in the project’s development. In addition to confirming that the entire experimental infrastructure functioned properly, the campaign allowed the team to refine protocols, optimize methodologies, lay the groundwork for the next stages of research, and collect the project’s initial data.

Although data analysis is still underway, preliminary results show significant impacts of light pollution and global warming on the species studied.

“We are currently processing the information collected during the campaign and preparing several scientific papers that will present the initial findings,” said Dr. Cristian Duarte, deputy director of DIPOLE and a researcher at UNAB’s One Health Institute. He added:

These findings will help us better understand how the combination of light pollution and rising temperatures may affect subantarctic species and, by extension, advance our understanding of Antarctic ecosystems.