Posted on 03/03/2006 10:33:26 AM PST by formercalifornian
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Mockingbirds sing all night long. Mountain lions take wide detours around the wildlife crossings they're supposed to be using. And two species of nocturnal snake slither quietly toward oblivion in the scrub lands of Orange County, Calif. The reason? The nights have grown far too bright. That's the message delivered powerfully in a new book, "Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting" - maybe not in Oprah's book club, but for many scientists trying to preserve native wildlife, a must-have. A product of four years' labor, the book pulls together the latest scientific findings on effects of nighttime light on wild species across the planet. Astronomers and back-country adventurers have long complained about growing levels of light pollution. But the new book is among the first to explore the ecological consequences. "There are almost no dark places in Orange County," says U.S. Geological Survey research scientist Robert Fisher, a co-author of the chapter on reptiles. "The only dark places on the coast are on Camp Pendleton. And even there, you're getting glare from L.A., Orange County, San Diego and Riverside." A surprising number of creatures, and even plants, appear to suffer debilitating effects from the glow of civilization. Sea turtles lose their way laying eggs on the beach. Migrating birds crash into lighted towers. Salmon halt migrations in mid-stream. Bats outcompete other bats for insects, tipping the ecological scales. Owls might spook flocks of crows too soon, repeatedly missing a favorite meal. Scientists take turns describing these and other effects in the book, which grew from the musings of one conservationist and what seemed like a simple request. A dark-sky enthusiast "asked us to write a white paper" on such effects, said Los Angeles conservationist Catherine Rich, long concerned about the retreat of darkness. But she and her husband, biogeographer Travis Longcore, found the subject was too big. Four years later, they've gathered the work of two dozen scientists into the volume they both edited. The chapter written by Fisher and Texas Tech University biologist Gad Perry focuses on the California glossy snake and the western long-nosed snake. They make their living hunting small creatures by night. Other creatures hunt them. "When it's bright, they're always at a higher risk of predation," Fisher said. "Or the converse, if you're a snake feeding on rodents, the rodents are most active when it's darkest. If there's a higher predator risk, they go away. Then you're going to go away because your food's gone." Fisher says both snake species survive in other areas, but are dwindling alarmingly in Orange County and may be headed for local extinction. Light pollution is the prime suspect. Mammals such as mountain lions - not endangered but likely growing increasingly scarce in the Santa Ana mountains - also appear to avoid nighttime lights, according to Paul Beier, a well-known mountain lion researcher who once tracked the big cats in and around Orange County using radio transmitters. While Beier calls his evidence anecdotal, he says he observed the lions on several occasions stopping short during nighttime jaunts across their large ranges. Near Temecula, he followed one lion as it came to a well-built wildlife undercrossing on Interstate 15. Bright lights were shining on the other side. "It didn't walk under it," Beier said. "The animal walked along the freeway until it could see dark on the other side." Another researcher found that some bat species take advantage of nighttime lighting to catch insects. In places where they compete with bat species that avoid the light, they might enjoy an unfair advantage - possibly contributing to the decline of the darkness-loving species. The use of sodium vapor lights, which emit far less ultraviolet light than conventional lights, is part of the solution, Longcore said. But other measures might be needed as well. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service routinely factors in light pollution when helping design wildlife reserves, said Jim Bartel, field supervisor at the agency's Carlsbad office, as they will with a wildlife reserve proposed for southern Orange County. Biologists at the agency will review the contributing scientists' conclusions in the new book, he said. As for those mockingbirds, males seeking mates sing at night anyway, light pollution or not. "After he finds a girl, he'll stop - unless you have the lights on," Longcore said. In that case, the bird will keep on singing. "He'll be defending his territory," he said.
Oops. clicked on post instead of edit
Great, not only do they want us to leave our cars in the garage, they want us to walk in the dark.
The author has a point. When I was a kid, I could see stars at night. Now all I can see is a sickly purplish - yellowish glow in the sky. I'm lucky to even see the moon any more. It's never dark anymore where I live. Never.
Have they considered issuing them tickets? That'll teach 'em.
Correct. They want to let mountain lions and snake roam free in our neighborhoods. If they kill some one, they don't care and if the crime rate skyrockets, they love that too.
So much for the "progessive revolution"
As a nocturnal creature myself (a vampire) I have a serious problem with UV lights...
Had your eyes checked lately....sounds like it could be series.
It's all President Bush's fault!
I grew up in the middle of a desert in the middle of nowhere 30 years ago and the mocking birds sang all night when we were out camping. Don't think it's the lights.
OH NO we are all going to die. The sky has fallen.
Even areas that used to be really dark at night aren't anymore. In Northern Michigan, the summer night sky was quite a sight - millions of stars and the Milky Way. Now, even up there, the night sky is nearly washed out.
"In places where they compete with bat species that avoid the light, they might enjoy an unfair advantage - possibly contributing to the decline of the darkness-loving species."
Isn't this what scientists would refer to as "natural selection", or "survival of the fittest"? Use of the term "unfair advantage" seems a bit biased towards the dark side.
Adapt or DIE.
Not even liberal infected California will turn off the lights.
Apparantly the animals are leaving on their own accord-no resettlement programs-no state sponsored trapping...
So whats the problem?
My new Iranian neighbors across the street must be paranoid. They installed 3 guard lights in their front yard and the lights are keeping ME awake at night.
Move to South Dakota.
Why?
When I was 8, I saw the original Dracula movie on TV. I snuck into the kitchen that night and got a bottle of garlic powder and poured a border around my bed, slept with a crucifix on my throat and left the lights on.
I couldn't understand why my mother objected to my simple safety precautions.
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