Long-term exposure to experimental light affects the ground-dwelling invertebrate community, independent of light spectra

K Spoelstra; S Teurlincx; M Courbois; ZM Hopkins; ME Visser; TM Jones; GR Hopkins

Journal article

Long-term exposure to experimental light affects the ground-dwelling invertebrate community, independent of light spectra

K Spoelstra, S Teurlincx, M Courbois, ZM Hopkins, ME Visser, TM Jones, GR Hopkins

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences | ROYAL SOC | Published : 2023

DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0364

Abstract

Our planet endures a progressive increase in artificial light at night (ALAN), which affects virtually all species, and thereby biodiversity. Mitigation strategies include reducing its intensity and duration, and the adjustment of light spectrum using modern light emitting diode (LED) light sources. Here, we studied ground-dwelling invertebrate (predominantly insects, arachnids, molluscs, millipedes, woodlice and worms) diversity and community composition after 3 or 4 years of continued nightly exposure (every night from sunset to sunrise) to experimental ALAN with three different spectra (white-, and green- and red-dominated light), as well as for a dark control, in natural forest-edge habi..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Theresa Jones Author

Related Projects (1)

The dark side of light: species and community impacts of night lighting

The presence of artificial light at night (LAN) is one of the most profound recent changes in urban ecosystems. Correlated with increases in..

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank SPIE for service and quick repairs on the experimental set-up when needed, and Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten, the Dutch Ministry of Defence, Het Drentse Landschap for allowing us to illuminate natural habitat and to work in their terrain, and two anonymous reviewers for providing significant comments improving the manuscript.