Effects of traffic-regulated street lighting on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity

Bolliger, Janine; Hennet, Tom; Wermelinger, Beat; Bösch, Ruedi; Pazúr, Róbert; Blum, Stephan; Haller, Jörg; Obrist, Martin К.

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2020.06.003

Cited by 36 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Lighting reductions also potentially reduce the environmental impacts of the light itself. 56,57 This work is an important step toward the long-term goal of a method to remotely sense energy consumption for outdoor lighting. The next step will be to gain more understanding of what light sources comprise the rest of the urban light output and to estimate the factor o that relates radiance observed from space to the energy consumption for other types of lighting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct measurement of the contribution of street lighting to satellite observations of nighttime light emissions from urban areas

Kyba

Ruby

Kuechly

et al. 2020

Lighting Research & Technology

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Nighttime light emissions are increasing in most countries worldwide, but which types of lighting are responsible for the increase remains unknown. Also unknown is what fraction of outdoor light emissions and associated energy use are due to public light sources (i.e. streetlights) or various types of private light sources (e.g. advertising). Here we show that it is possible to measure the contribution of street lighting to nighttime satellite imagery using ‘smart city’ lighting infrastructure. The city of Tucson, USA, intentionally altered its streetlight output over 10 days, and we examined the change in emissions observed by satellite. We find that streetlights operated by the city are responsible for only 13% of the total radiance (in the 500–900 nm band) observed from Tucson from space after midnight (95% confidence interval 10–16%). If Tucson did not dim their streetlights after midnight, the contribution would be 18% (95% confidence interval 15–23%). When streetlights operated by other actors are included, the best estimates rise to 16% and 21%, respectively. Existing energy and lighting policy related to the sustainability of outdoor light use has mainly focused on street lighting. These results suggest an urgent need for consideration of other types of light sources in outdoor lighting policy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct measurement of the contribution of street lighting to satellite observations of nighttime light emissions from urban areas

Kyba

Ruby

Kuechly

et al. 2020

Lighting Research & Technology

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“…In consequence, some nocturnal species such as bats, owls, and fireflies may suffer negative impacts. For example, it has been found that light pollution may damage the spatial behavior of bats and cause a reduction in their survival and reproductive capacity [52]. Therefore, if light pollution is not considered in the planning and protection of ecological corridors, the absence of effective protection for nocturnal species may lead to cascade effects which may result in a deterioration in ecosystem function and biodiversity protection on a landscape scale [53].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Corridor Construction Based on Least-Cost Modeling Using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nighttime Light Data and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Liu

Fang

2021

Land

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Anthropic pressure is one of the main drivers of landscape change and biodiversity loss. Artificial nighttime light, which can affect species behavior, is an important human-induced threat to biodiversity, but it is often ignored in ecological connectivity research. To mitigate the adverse impacts of artificial lighting on biodiversity, this study integrates artificial nighttime light in landscape ecology and analyzes the influence of artificial nighttime light on landscape connectivity. A quantitative approach integrating nighttime light brightness from a Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) with a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from a Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is proposed to estimate the matrix resistance, which can identify the sensitive areas that are disrupted by nighttime light. It was found that the nightscape in the study area is significantly disrupted by nighttime light and the matrix resistance in the center of the study area significantly increases. Compared to the least-cost routes from the NDVI, the “dark” least-cost ecological corridors constructed using our approach apparently change in both location and distance. The corridors moved to the outer suburbs and rural areas, and the maximum increase in distance of the least-cost paths was 37.94%. Due to less disturbance from human activity and the maintenance of a pristine nightscape, “dark” ecological corridors can reduce the adverse effects of night lights and contribute to biodiversity. However, natural habitats have been greatly affected by nighttime light with the increase in global illumination, and it is essential that we improve public awareness of light pollution and formulate light-reduction policies and legislation.

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“…Although lighting professionals (e.g., design and industry) increasingly acknowledge ALAN as a threat to biodiversity, there are diverging views regarding potential obstacles to light pollution mitigation (Schulte-Römer et al, 2019;Pérez Vega et al, 2021). Current technological advancements in outdoor lighting, particularly LEDs, in principle allow developing lighting mitigation strategies that balance conflicting interests between humans and biodiversity, but this potential remains largely untapped (Longcore, 2018;Bolliger et al, 2020;Deichmann et al, 2021;Jägerbrand and Bouroussis, 2021). Furthermore, LEDs are an energy efficient technology that promises net savings in energy consumption.…”

Section: Bending the Curve Of Biodiversity Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

11 Pressing Research Questions on How Light Pollution Affects Biodiversity

et al. 2021

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Artificial light at night (ALAN) is closely associated with modern societies and is rapidly increasing worldwide. A dynamically growing body of literature shows that ALAN poses a serious threat to all levels of biodiversity—from genes to ecosystems. Many “unknowns” remain to be addressed however, before we fully understand the impact of ALAN on biodiversity and can design effective mitigation measures. Here, we distilled the findings of a workshop on the effects of ALAN on biodiversity at the first World Biodiversity Forum in Davos attended by several major research groups in the field from across the globe. We argue that 11 pressing research questions have to be answered to find ways to reduce the impact of ALAN on biodiversity. The questions address fundamental knowledge gaps, ranging from basic challenges on how to standardize light measurements, through the multi-level impacts on biodiversity, to opportunities and challenges for more sustainable use.

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Effects of traffic-regulated street lighting on nocturnal insect abundance and bat activity

Cited by 36 publications

References 57 publications

Direct measurement of the contribution of street lighting to satellite observations of nighttime light emissions from urban areas

Direct measurement of the contribution of street lighting to satellite observations of nighttime light emissions from urban areas

Ecological Corridor Construction Based on Least-Cost Modeling Using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nighttime Light Data and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

11 Pressing Research Questions on How Light Pollution Affects Biodiversity

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