The findings, which include the first publicly available database to help developers, designers, and policymakers choose wildlife-friendly lighting colors, appear today in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology.
"Outdoor environments are changing rapidly and in ways that can impact wildlife species," said Travis Longcore, lead author of the study and assistant professor of architecture, spatial sciences and biological sciences with the Spatial Sciences Institute at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "We provide a method to assess the probable consequences of new light sources to keep up with the changing technology."
Big cities and industrial sites so illuminate night sky now that much of Earth resembles a big, glowing ball. Scientists have spent years studying how light brightness and direction affects wildlife, including migration and attraction, predator-prey relationships and circadian rhythms. The USC team availed that existing ecological data and broke new ground by examining how a range of commercially available LED lights impact species.
LED lights are expected to comprise 69 percent of the global market by 2020, compared to just 9 percent in 2011. They are popular because they have many uses, conserve energy and last longer than other lamps.
To understand the impacts, and find compromise solutions between human and animal needs, the researchers focused on insects, sea turtles, salmon and Newell's shearwater, a seabird, for which existing data were readily available. They found that the worst nighttime lights are intense blue and white colors—some affect species as much as the brightness of midday sun—and three times more than yellow or green lights designed with wavelengths less disruptive to wildlife.
The research is important for wildlife conservation. For example, loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings, an endangered species, leave beach nests at night and follow artificial light inland to danger instead of skittering to the ocean. Similarly, lights attract migrating juvenile salmon, exposing them to predators. Also, global declines in insects have been linked in part to light pollution, Longcore said. The new research will help people choose lighting to reduce wildlife impacts.
The researchers focused on only four groups of creatures, which have been studied for light responses previously. Future studies will incorporate more species worldwide.
A central component of the USC research includes the first publicly available database showing how about two dozen different types of artificial lighting affect wildlife. The matrix is called "Rapid Assessment of Lamp Spectrum to Quantify Ecological Effects of Light at Night." Developers, land-use planners and policy makers can use it to choose lighting that balances the needs of nature and people. Today, regulations to limit light direction or intensity typically don't account for the different hues of LED lights, Longcore said.
"If we don't provide advice and information to decisionmakers, they will go with the cheapest lighting or lighting that serves only one interest and does not balance other interests," Longcore said. "We provide a method to assess the probable consequences of new light sources to keep up with the changing technology and wildlife concerns."
Global warming hysteria —> Windmills which chop up raptors by the millions
Global warming hysteria —> Central solar power towers that fry birds and insects by the millions
Global warming hysteria —> Abolish incandescent bulbs and force adoption of LED bulbs which are discombobulating wildlife.
It seems that liberal warm-mongers hate wildlife and want to destroy it.
” says a USC-led research group “ = Total Morons!
so can the left be sued for foisting LED’s on everyone and harmign wildlife?
Any LED that cause Raccoons to stay away? Asking for a friend.
I hate Academic Studies that present conclusions with no explanations of what the conclusions apply to, or whether the "wildlife" is nocturnal or diurnal, coast based or desert.
It leaves the same bad taste in my mouth as the "Executive Summary" of the global warming/climate change scam, of the UN IPCC, which tilts all public information to validate predetermined conclusions.
Bottom line... where is the entire so called study details on which the new hysterical report, rich on generalities but short on details is based.
Is the Study "repeatable?"
Is it actual science?
Do we have another East Anglia Fraud unit here?
Longcore and his ilk belong in caves.
which color led is lethal to groundsquirrels and gophers ? They could be best-sellers.
How do LED landscaping lights possibly affect sea turtles and salmon? ...These people are nuts!
Knowing how I am personally affected by artificial lights, I am not surprised at the effects of lights on wildlife.
I’d like to see more studies of people he effects of odd light colors on humans.
The white and the blue-white LED streetlights and headlights are very hard on human eyes too.
All I want to know is, how long before every Walmart or Home Depot has a Zampolit placed at check out, giving approval or denial to everything we buy?
When I drive at night I use amber glasses to filter out the blue spectrum that’s so prevalent in modern headlights, and the glasses help preserve my night vision when I encounter high beams or misaligned headlights.
I’m in the planning stages of adding outdoor lighting to my rural property in the desert, and I’ve already learned that I want the “warmer” spectrum of LEDs, which actually refers to a cooler temperature of light despite the contradictory terminology. If I can’t find a “white” LED that’s “warm” enough in the light spectrum, I might just go with yellow monochrome. I want the lights primarily for security purposes so color fidelity is not a concern.