What type of rigorous experiments are needed to investigate the impact of artificial light at night on individuals and populations?

Ouyang, Jenny Q.; Jong, Maaike de; Grunsven, Roy H. A. van; Matson, Kevin D.; Haussmann, Mark F.; Meerlo, Peter; Visser, Marcel E.; Spoelstra, Kamiel

doi:10.1111/gcb.13894

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Reasons may be manifold. While we may exclude factors related to the technical set-up of the experiment, as the street light experiment was designed in close collaboration with professional lighting engineers who have the required knowledge and access to the required infrastructure to support our research, there may be confounding factors as ALAN is an aggregated measure that may represent many different human pressures (Ouyang et al 2017). First, declining habitat size and quality are prominent examples of negative human pressures that may affect insects in peri-urban areas (Wenzel et al 2019).…”

Section: Insect and Bat Responses To Two Led Colorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low impact of two LED colors on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity in a peri-urban environment

et al. 2020

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Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an important driver of change in ecological environments of the 21th century. We investigated the impact on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity of two LED light colors (warm-white 2700 K, cold-white 6500 K) in a peri-urban environment. Bat activity (predominantly Pipistrellus pipistrellus) was largely driven by prey availability (insects), while insect abundance was responsive to nightly weather conditions (precipitation, temperature). Thus, both insects and bats were not differentially responsive to cold-white or warm-white LEDs. These findings are largely in contrast with literature, particularly for insects. However, as most published experiments on ALAN were conducted in areas that were lit solely for the purpose of the experiment, we would like to bring forward that (1) adaptation to environmental constraints may play a role in peri-urban environments that have been exposed to ALAN for many decades; or (2) impacts of cold-white LEDs on nocturnal insects may be lower than expected, because nocturnal insects adapted to low-light conditions may be put off by cold white light sources (6500 K).

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Section: Insect and Bat Responses To Two Led Colorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low impact of two LED colors on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity in a peri-urban environment

et al. 2020

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“…artificial light at night (ALAN) [23,24]. However, the reason for this phototactic behavior, especially for ALAN in nocturnal insects remains unclear and may be driven by multiple factors [18,20,26]. The effects of environmental (e.g.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of artificial light intensity on nocturnal insect diversity in urban and rural areas of the Asir province, Saudi Arabia

Hakami¹,

Khan²,

Ghramh³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Continuous urban developments have resulted in increased demand for street furniture, one of which is street light columns. Artificial light at night (ALAN) pose significant impacts on insect diversity in urban and rural areas. The ALAN is a significant driver of decline in insect diversity. This study evaluated the impact of light intensity and sky quality at night on insect diversity in rural and urban areas of the Asir province, Saudi Arabia. Insect traps were installed in both areas during night. Light intensity of nearby road lamps was measured using light meter, while sky quality was measured using sky quality meter. Rural areas exhibited low light intensity (10.33 flux/f.candle) and good sky quality (18.80 magnitude/arcsec2). Urban areas exhibited intense light (89.33 flux/f.candle) and poor sky quality (15.49 magnitude/arcsec2). Higher insect diversity was recorded for rural areas where insects belonging to seven orders (i.e., Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, and Dermaptera) were collected. However, insects of four orders (i.e., Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, and Neuroptera) were found in urban areas indicating low diversity. Lepidopteran insects were frequently recorded from rural areas indicating they are attracted to artificial light. It is concluded that excessive ALAN and poor sky quality at night disrupt insect biodiversity. Therefore, ALAN and sky quality must be considered responsible for decline in insect biodiversity along with other known factors.

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“…However, conclusions from field studies where animals are potentially able to avoid ALAN are currently inconclusive due to the lack of studies on many taxa and standardized measurements of light sources. Furthermore, the findings from this small set of available studies to a certain extent can result from publication bias, and until more research is available for meta-analyses, endocrine disruption due to ALAN in the wild remains a black box (Ouyang et al, 2017a). Laboratory studies can illustrate the mechanistic 'dark' sides of ALAN, and these negative effects can be ameliorated by using alternative light spectra for LEDs, switching to different types of lights, or only using light at certain periods of the night.…”

Section: Future Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hormonally mediated effects of artificial light at night on behavior and fitness: linking endocrine mechanisms with function

Ouyang

Davies

Dominoni

2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

113

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Alternation between day and night is a predictable environmental fluctuation that organisms use to time their activities. Since the invention of artificial lighting, this predictability has been disrupted and continues to change in a unidirectional fashion with increasing urbanization. As hormones mediate individual responses to changing environments, endocrine systems might be one of the first systems affected, as well as being the first line of defense to ameliorate any negative health impacts. In this Review, we first highlight how light can influence endocrine function in vertebrates. We then focus on four endocrine axes that might be affected by artificial light at night (ALAN): pineal, reproductive, adrenal and thyroid. Throughout, we highlight key findings, rather than performing an exhaustive review, in order to emphasize knowledge gaps that are hindering progress on proposing impactful and concrete plans to ameliorate the negative effects of ALAN. We discuss these findings with respect to impacts on human and animal health, with a focus on the consequences of anthropogenic modification of the night-time environment for non-human organisms. Lastly, we stress the need for the integration of field and lab experiments as well as the need for long-term integrative eco-physiological studies in the rapidly expanding field of light pollution.

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What type of rigorous experiments are needed to investigate the impact of artificial light at night on individuals and populations?

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

Low impact of two LED colors on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity in a peri-urban environment

Low impact of two LED colors on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity in a peri-urban environment

Impact of artificial light intensity on nocturnal insect diversity in urban and rural areas of the Asir province, Saudi Arabia

Hormonally mediated effects of artificial light at night on behavior and fitness: linking endocrine mechanisms with function

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