Post #3786871

2026-07-13 07:54 UTC

I am researching ways to minimize the impact of light pollution on wildlife of all sizes, with a focus on insects, in an industrial area. "Just turn it all off" is off the table, but I can make arguments for reducing it. I want to find out what is actually effective. So far I found one article listing some options: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214574524001184 Anyone here with strong opinions on this topic? #LightPollution #insects

Replies (5)

@juliette@mastodon.green 2026-07-13 07:55

I'm finding a lot of resources on reducing light pollution for stargazing purposes, but those don't always help wildlife, as some mitigation measures tend to be "direct light at the ground" or "use different wavelengths".

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@hakona@im.alstadheim.no 2026-07-13 18:54

@juliette@mastodon.green From te summary: "Relative to its potential, shielding has attracted strikingly little scientific attention."

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@Pepijn@mastodon.online 2026-07-13 08:04

@juliette@mastodon.green I had this bookmark https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2023/06/Buglife-Nurture-the-Night-Shift-Bug-friendly-Lighting.pdf It's more aimed at people needing a very basic introduction. But it might be an idea to ask them for expert advice.

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@afewbugs@social.coop 2026-07-13 14:59

@juliette@mastodon.green this is really annoying because I know there's someone on here whose field of research is the effect of light pollution on plants, but I can't remember his name. Boosted in the hope someone else does

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@pmdj@mstdn.social 2026-07-13 15:23

@juliette@mastodon.green Ed Yong’s “An Immense World” covers some of the research in this area in (IIRC) the last chapter. A quick online search so far hasn’t located a handy list of references however. I seem to remember restricting the emitted spectrum making a significant difference for insect life in particular as well however.

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