Cloud cover disrupts the influence of the lunar cycle on the growth of peat moss Sphagnum riparium
2022
Mironov, Victor L.
Moonlight is the connecting link between living processes and the lunar cycle, suggesting that its elimination can seriously weaken the biological effect of the lunar cycle. Cloud cover, especially its lower level, effectively absorbs moonlight under natural conditions. However, it is unclear how this process affects the sensitivity of plants to the lunar cycle. To address this, I analyzed the change in the growth response of the peat moss Sphagnum riparium Ångstr. (Sphagnaceae, Bryophyta) to the illumination of the moon due a gradual increase in the low cloud cover. The data on the growth of this species were obtained as a result of extensive six-year monitoring carried out over the full growing season in the mires of Karelia (Russia). In total, 1081 days of the Sphagnum growing were covered, 161190 growth increment of shoots were measured and 1075 values of the Sphagnum growth rate were obtained. As a result, it was found that from certain values, low cloud cover disrupts the influence of the lunar cycle on the growth of S. riparium. Under clear and little cloudy sky conditions, the illumination of the moon most strongly inhibits the growth processes (r varies from −0.434 to −0.366; p < 0.001). With the cloud cover from about 40%, this inhibitory effect begins to dramatically weaken. With the cloud cover of about 60%, it reaches a significance level (r = −0.182; p = 0.01), and with a further increase in cloudiness it becomes insignificant. This finding confirms the influence of the lunar cycle on plants through variations in the moonlight and indicates that cloud cover can strongly control the plant response to the lunar cycle.
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