Meet Star Gazers

Effects of Light Pollution on Wildlife and Insects

Episode Summary

In this episode, DeAnn McCreary from Kansas City, Missouri shares with us her knowledge and wisdom on the impact of artificial light at night on wild animals and insects. She also shares lessons learnt in working with her city's committee on reducing the ecological impact of its planned installation of LED lights.

Episode Notes

DeAnn McCreary's current area of interest is the impact of artificial light at night on nocturnal wildlife, including insects.  She has been an active volunteer with Friends of Lakeside Nature Centre, Kansas City, Missouri for 20 years. Over the past 4 months, she has been working with a committee to reduce the ecological impact of her city's planned installation of LED lights.

Time stamps :

• 03:05 : DeAnn's background with wildlife
• 04:47 : How can light pollution harm wildlife ?
• 09:21 : Is light pollution a threat to wildlife ?
• 12:13 :  How does light pollution affect wildlife within the 24-hour cycle ?
• 14:50 : Effect of light pollution on nocturnal animals
• 18:58 : Impact of artificial light at night on ecosystems
• 20:20 : How does light pollution affect bird migration ?
• 21:41 : Light pollution and insects
• 26:46 : Other ecological impacts of artificial light at night
• 29:07 : How should dark sky advocates contact their municipality ?
• 29:56 : What questions should dark sky advocates ask to their City Engineer about street lights ?
• 33:59 : Resources that have helped DeAnn in dark sky advocacy

Useful links and resources :

• Falcon J. et al. 2020.  Exposure to Artificial Light at Night and the Consequences for Flora, Fauna, and Ecosystems.  Frontiers in Neuroscience 16; 14:602796.
• Grubisic, M., van Grunsven, R., Kyba, C., Manfrin, A. and Hölker, F. (2018), Insect declines and agroecosystems: does light pollution matter?. Ann Appl Biol, 173: 180-189.
• Grubisic M.  2019.  Light Pollution, Circadian Photoreception, and Melatonin in Vertebrates.  Sustainability 11(22): 6400.
• Institution of Lighting Professionals and Bat Conservation Trust. 2018.  Bats and artificial lighting in the UK.
• Kerbiriou C, Barre K et al.  2020. Switching LPS to LED Streetlight May Dramatically Reduce Activity and Foraging of Bats.  Diversity 12:165.
• Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting
• The Dark Side of Light | Dragana Rogulja | TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet
• Russart, KLG, Nelson, RJ. Artificial light at night alters behavior in laboratory and wild animals. J Exp Zool. 2018; 329: 401– 408.
• Zielinska-Dabkowska Karolina M. et al.  2020. Assessment of Citizens’ Actions against Light Pollution with Guidelines for Future Initiatives.  Sustainability 12(12): 4997.
• International Dark Sky Association

If you liked this episode, please consider buying me a coffee.