Effects of wavelength and intensity of light in initiation of body fattening and gonadal growth in a migratory bunting under complete and skeleton photoperiods

Abstract

A series of experiments investigated the effects of wavelength and intensity of light in initiation of body fattening (gain in body weight) and gonadal growth in migratory blackheaded bunting under complete and skeleton photoperiods. Using fluorescent light at an intensity approximately 700 lx, the first experiment compared the inductiveness of a complete (13 h continuous light coupled with 11 h darkness; 13L:11D) and a skeleton (two light pulses of 6 and 1 h at 6 h apart; 6L:6D:1L:11D) photoperiod. Observations at the beginning and after 3, 8, 10, and 13 weeks of the treatment indicated that both photoperiods were fully inductive but that birds under 13L photoperiod fattened and lost body weight significantly earlier than birds under skeleton photoperiod. In the second experiment, bunting were subjected to 13L:11D (L = 100 lx; D = 0 lx) of white, green (528 nm), and red (654 nm) light for a period of 5 weeks. Birds gained weight and testes grew in all groups except for an inconsistent fattening response in the white light group. The third experiment tested if the inductive effects of 1-h light pulse in a skeleton photoperiod were intensity dependent. Groups of bunting were exposed to 6L:6D:1L:11D (intensity of 1-h white light pulse = 2, 10, 50, or 100 lux) and examined at the beginning and after 3 and 8 weeks of the treatment. Photoinduction occurred at a slower rate and only at 50- and 100-lx intensities. The fourth experiment was similar to the third in design but it employed 1-h light pulse of two different wavelengths (green = 528 nm, and red = 654 nm) at 50- and 100-lx intensities. Birds fattened and testes grew only under red light. The last experiment varied the wavelength and intensity of the first (6 h) light pulse of the skeleton photoperiod (6L:6D:1L:11D): 6-h entraining light pulse of white, green (528 nm), or red (654 nm) colour at 10- or 50-lx intensity was used with 1-h inducing light pulse of white light at approximately 700-lx intensity. Testes grew in all groups but significant fattening occurred only in birds entrained to 50-lx light intensity. These results indicate i) the dissociation of body weight and gonadal responses, in the sense that the timing of photostimulation and/or magnitude of photoperiod-induced body weight and testicular responses differed under various photoperiodic manipulations, and ii) the circadian processes involved in photoperiod-induced responses have differential spectral and intensity sensitivity.