Disrupted seasonal biology impacts health, food security and ecosystems
Authors
Stevenson, T. J.Visser, M. E.
Arnold, W.
Barrett, P.
Biello, S.
Dawson, A.
Denlinger, D. L.
Dominoni, D.
Ebling, F. J.
Elton, S.
Schwartz, William J.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of NeurologyDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2015-10-22Keywords
annualbiological rhythm
circannual
desynchrony
fitness
one-health
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Environmental Studies
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
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Show full item recordAbstract
The rhythm of life on earth is shaped by seasonal changes in the environment. Plants and animals show profound annual cycles in physiology, health, morphology, behaviour and demography in response to environmental cues. Seasonal biology impacts ecosystems and agriculture, with consequences for humans and biodiversity. Human populations show robust annual rhythms in health and well-being, and the birth month can have lasting effects that persist throughout life. This review emphasizes the need for a better understanding of seasonal biology against the backdrop of its rapidly progressing disruption through climate change, human lifestyles and other anthropogenic impact. Climate change is modifying annual rhythms to which numerous organisms have adapted, with potential consequences for industries relating to health, ecosystems and food security. Disconcertingly, human lifestyles under artificial conditions of eternal summer provide the most extreme example for disconnect from natural seasons, making humans vulnerable to increased morbidity and mortality. In this review, we introduce scenarios of seasonal disruption, highlight key aspects of seasonal biology and summarize from biomedical, anthropological, veterinary, agricultural and environmental perspectives the recent evidence for seasonal desynchronization between environmental factors and internal rhythms. Because annual rhythms are pervasive across biological systems, they provide a common framework for trans-disciplinary research.Source
Proc Biol Sci. 2015 Oct 22;282(1817). pii: 20151453. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2015.1453. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1098/rspb.2015.1453Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/39788PubMed ID
26468242Notes
Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors, see article.
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Copyright 2015 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1098/rspb.2015.1453
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as <p>Copyright 2015 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.</p>