Herald moth by Martin Kincaid, Manor Farm cellar

Among drivers of environmental change, artificial light at night is relatively poorly understood, yet is increasing on a global scale.

The community-level effects of existing street lights on moths and their biotic interactions have not previously been studied.

Using a combination of sampling methods at matched-pairs of lit and unlit sites, we found significant effects of street lighting: moth abundance at ground level was halved at lit sites, species richness was >25% lower, and flight activity at the level of the light was 70% greater.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: The dark side of street lighting: impacts on moths and evidence for the disruption of nocturnal pollen transport – Macgregor – 2016 – Global Change Biology – Wiley Online Library