Effects of noise and light pollution on fish response to chemical stressors

Globally freshwaters are the world?s most endangered habitats. Oman has relatively few freshwater ecosystems but they are biodiversity hot spots, home to complex communities of fishes, frogs and fish, and supporting diverse terrestrial species including migratory wading birds and many desert mammals and reptiles. Healthy wadis are also at the heart of Oman?s ambition to be a global leader in ecotourism. Oman?s wadis are also closely integrated with traditional Omani culture and agriculture. The close proximity between the freshwater ecosystems and human activities poses direct risks to wadi inhabitants through discharge of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other wastes enters these aquatic habitats. Humans have used artificial sources of lighting since the industrial revolution, but following the second world war the scale and intensity of lighting has increased exponentially. Artificial light at night (ALAN) can lead to serious physiological changes in animal populations leading to disruptions in metabolism, reproduction and behavior. Contemporaneously, with increases in ALAN, anthropogenic noise has also increased. Noise is defined as unwanted sound and has been shown to cause deleterious effects to humans and animals. Combined with noise and light pollution, freshwater ecosystems are under stress from multiple directions. This will be the first study to investigate the interactive effects of a chemical pollutant, combined with light and noise pollution on fish. It will provide important information for natural resource managers who are trying to protect and encourage natural habitats near urban environments.