Multiple night‐time light‐emitting diode lighting strategies impact grassland invertebrate assemblages

Davies, Thomas W.; Bennie, Jonathan; Cruse, Dave; Blumgart, Dan; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

doi:10.1111/gcb.13615

Cited by 76 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(58 reference statements)

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“…While direct effects on plant physiology are a plausible explanation for the observed effects on species composition, cover and biomass, we cannot rule out indirect effects, for example mediated through the effects of the light treatments on herbivory. Ecological effects of artificial light can cascade through trophic levels (Bennie, Davies, et al., ) and street lighting is known to change the composition of communities of grassland invertebrates (Davies et al., , ); it is possible, although perhaps unlikely, that light‐mediated changes in the abundance of invertebrate herbivores impacted the vegetation. While large vertebrate herbivores were excluded from the site, following the cessation of grazing field voles ( Microtus agrestis ) became abundant in the tall grass.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial light at night alters grassland vegetation species composition and phenology

Bennie

Davies

Cruse

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Abstract1. Human settlements and transport networks are growing rapidly worldwide. Since the early 20th century their expansion has been accompanied by increasing illumination of the environment at night, a trend that is likely to continue over the decades to come. Consequently, a growing proportion of the world's ecosystems are exposed to artificial light at night, profoundly altering natural cycles of light and darkness. While in recent years there have been advances in our understanding of the effects of artificial light at night on the behaviour and physiology of animals in the wild, much less is known about the impacts on wild plants and natural or seminatural vegetation composition. This is surprising, as effects of low-intensity light at night on flowering, phenology and growth form are well known in laboratory and greenhouse studies.2. In a long-term experimental field study we exposed a semi-natural grassland to artificial light at intensities and wavelengths typical of those experienced by roadside vegetation under street lighting.3. We found that lighting affected the trajectory of vegetation change, leading to significant differences in biomass and plant cover in the dominant species.4. Changes in flowering phenology were variable between years, with grass species flowering between 4 days earlier and 12 days later under artificial light. Policy implications.Our results demonstrate that artificial light, at levels equivalent to those in street-lit environments, can affect species composition in semi-natural vegetation. This highlights the importance of considering artificial light as a driver of vegetation change in urban, suburban and semi-natural ecosystems, and where possible, of minimising or excluding artificial light from habitats of conservation importance. K E Y W O R D Sartificial light,

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial light at night alters grassland vegetation species composition and phenology

Bennie

Davies

Cruse

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…The uptake of LED lighting can alter assemblages of nocturnal invertebrates (Davies et al. ) and is recognized as a key emerging threat to biodiversity in urban ecosystems due to the greater emission of blue light by LEDs compared to incumbent lighting technologies (Stanley et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of street lighting technologies on the success and quality of pollination in a nocturnally pollinated plant

et al. 2019

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Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasingly important driver of global change. Lighting directly affects plants, but few studies have investigated indirect effects mediated by interacting organisms. Nocturnal Lepidoptera are globally important pollinators, and pollen transport by moths is disrupted by lighting. Many street lighting systems are being replaced with novel, energy-efficient lighting, with unknown ecological consequences. Using the wildflower Silene latifolia, we compared pollination success and quality at experimentally lit and unlit plots, testing two major changes to street lighting technology: in lamp type, from high-pressure sodium lamps to light-emitting diodes, and in lighting regime, from fullnight (FN) to part-night (PN) lighting. We predicted that lighting would reduce pollination. S. latifolia was pollinated both diurnally and nocturnally. Contrary to our predictions, flowers under FN lighting had higher pollination success than flowers under either PN lighting or unlit controls, which did not significantly differ from each other. Lamp type, lighting regime, and distance from the light all significantly affected aspects of pollination quality. These results confirm that street lighting could affect plant reproduction through indirect effects mediated by nocturnal insects, and further highlight the possibility for novel lighting technologies to mitigate the effects of ALAN on ecosystems.

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“…The yet greater levels of illuminance at distance from vehicle headlights mean that the upper intensity levels that require exploration will need to be substantially higher than those from streetlights, and than the intensities which have been used in empirical studies thus far (e.g. Bennie et al., ; Davies et al., ; de Jong et al., ; Sanders et al., ).…”

Section: Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has altered what had for millennia been reliable signals used for regulating a host of biological processes. An extraordinary array of impacts have now been documented, including on gene expression, the physiology and behaviour of organisms, the abundance and distribution of species, their ecological interactions, the composition of communities, and ecosystem processes and services (for a range of recent examples see Altermatt & Ebert, ; Davies et al., ; ffrench‐Constant et al., ; Raap, Pinxten, & Eens, ; Robert, Lesku, Partecke, & Chambers, ; Sanders et al., ; Thums et al., ; Wakefield, Stone, Jones, & Harris, ). Moreover, these effects have been found across a wide diversity of species, including microbes, plants, molluscs, arachnids, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (Bennie, Davies, Cruse, & Gaston, ; Gaston, Bennie, Davies, & Hopkins, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature, extent and ecological implications of night‐time light from road vehicles

Gaston

Holt

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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The erosion of night‐time by the introduction of artificial lighting constitutes a profound pressure on the natural environment. It has altered what had for millennia been reliable signals from natural light cycles used for regulating a host of biological processes, with impacts ranging from changes in gene expression to ecosystem processes.Studies of these impacts have focused almost exclusively on those resulting from stationary sources of light emissions, and particularly streetlights. However, mobile sources, especially road vehicle headlights, contribute substantial additional emissions.The ecological impacts of light emissions from vehicle headlights are likely to be especially high because these are (1) focused so as to light roadsides at higher intensities than commonly experienced from other sources, and well above activation thresholds for many biological processes; (2) projected largely in a horizontal plane and thus can carry over long distances; (3) introduced into much larger areas of the landscape than experience street lighting; (4) typically broad “white” spectrum, which substantially overlaps the action spectra of many biological processes and (5) often experienced at roadsides as series of pulses of light (produced by passage of vehicles), a dynamic known to have major biological impacts.The ecological impacts of road vehicle headlights will markedly increase with projected global growth in numbers of vehicles and the road network, increasing the local severity of emissions (because vehicle numbers are increasing faster than growth in the road network) and introducing emissions into areas from which they were previously absent. The effects will be further exacerbated by technological developments that are increasing the intensity of headlight emissions and the amounts of blue light in emission spectra. Synthesis and applications. Emissions from vehicle headlights need to be considered as a major, and growing, source of ecological impacts of artificial night‐time lighting. It will be a significant challenge to minimise these impacts whilst balancing drivers' needs at night and avoiding risk and discomfort for other road users. Nonetheless, there is potential to identify solutions to these conflicts, both through the design of headlights and that of roads.

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Multiple night‐time light‐emitting diode lighting strategies impact grassland invertebrate assemblages

Cited by 76 publications

References 41 publications

Artificial light at night alters grassland vegetation species composition and phenology

Artificial light at night alters grassland vegetation species composition and phenology

Effects of street lighting technologies on the success and quality of pollination in a nocturnally pollinated plant

Nature, extent and ecological implications of night‐time light from road vehicles

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