Why artificial light at night should be a focus for global change research in the 21st century

Abstract

The environmental impacts of artificial light at night have been a rapidly growing field of global change science in recent years. Yet, light pollution has not achieved parity with other global change phenomena in the level of concern and interest it receives from the scientific community, government and nongovernmental organizations. This is despite the globally widespread, expanding and changing nature of night-time lighting and the immediacy, severity and phylogenetic breath of its impacts. In this opinion piece, we evidence 10 reasons why artificial light at night should be a focus for global change research in the 21st century. Our reasons extend beyond those concerned principally with the environment, to also include impacts on human health, culture and biodiversity conservation more generally. We conclude that the growing use of night-time lighting will continue to raise numerous ecological, human health and cultural issues, but that opportunities exist to mitigate its impacts by combining novel technologies with sound scientific evidence. The potential gains from appropriate management extend far beyond those for the environment, indeed it may play a key role in transitioning towards a more sustainable society.

Dose‐response effects of light at night on the reproductive physiology of great tits (Parus major): Integrating morphological analyses with candidate gene expression

“…The presence of ALAN is globally increasing in both spatial extent and radiance, despite the recent switch to LED technology in developed countries (Falchi et al., ; Gaston, Duffy, & Bennie, ; Kyba et al., ). This suggests that exposure to ALAN of wild animals is likely also increasing, and thus there is impellent need to understand what the ecological consequences of ALAN will be in the coming years (Davies & Smyth, ). Our study adds to the increasing evidence that the exposure to artificial light can affect the reproductive system of animals, and in particular of birds.…”

Assessing the effects of artificial light at night on biodiversity across latitude – Current knowledge gaps

“…ALAN generates a broad array of effects on animals, and as far as we know to a lesser extent on plants and micro-organisms (Bennie, Davies, Cruse, Bell, & Gaston, 2017;ffrench-Constant et al, 2016;Hölker et al, 2015). The field is expanding fast as revealed by the recent bloom of publications (Davies & Smyth, 2018). As for the other major risk factors for biodiversity, ecosystem exposure to ALAN has been assessed at the global scale (Bennie, Duffy, et al, 2015;Davies, Duffy, Bennie, & Gaston, 2016;Falchi et al, 2016;Guetté, Godet, Juigner, & Robin, 2018;Kyba, Kuester, et al, 2017).…”

The impact of artificial light at night on nocturnal insects: A review and synthesis

“…Localized illumination of nocturnal landscapes by anthropogenic sources of light such as street lamps, path lights, and vehicle headlights, hereafter referred to collectively as artificial light at night (ALAN), is likely to disrupt populations of crepuscular and nocturnal animal species present in affected habitats (Davies & Smyth, ; Gaston & Holt, ; Navara & Nelson, ; Rich & Longcore, ). Recent global surveys of night sky brightness have concluded that 23% of land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, including 88% of Europe and 47% of the United States, experience nightly “light pollution” in the form of an increase in night sky brightness at least 8% above the natural level (Falchi et al, ) and that this artificial illumination is gradually invading biodiversity hot spots (Guetté, Godet, Juigner, & Robin, ).…”