ArticleScience advances2021
Street lighting has detrimental impacts on local insect populations.
Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Artificial Light at Night Consistently Impacts Avian Physiology and Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis.Ecology letters · 2026Pooled it
- Global meta-analysis reveals overall higher nocturnal than diurnal activity in insect communities.Nature communications · 2024Pooled it
- Artificial Light at Night Alters Both of Nocturnal and Diurnal Pollination Networks in Alpine Meadows.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Nocturnal Lepidoptera Larvae in Mega-Project: Habitat and Environmental Factors Over Construction Effects.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Citizen science reveals temporally structured insect attraction and mitigation efficacy under artificial light at night.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Impact of light pollution spectra and intensity on the development and mortality of tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) larvae.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Wavelength-Specific Transcriptomic Responses ofInsects · 2026Article
- Local Infrastructure Induces Edge Effect in Nocturnal Insects-A Case Study in the Donau-Auen National Park (Austria).Insects · 2026Article
- The sensory ecology of caterpillars.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- Effects of light pollution on development rate of the painted lady butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).Environmental entomology · 2026Article
- Light Intensity Modulates Locomotor Behavior and Predation in Different Color Morphs of the Harlequin Ladybird,Insects · 2025Article
- Drivers of nocturnal and diurnal pollinating insect declines in urban landscapes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Blended-red lighting partially mitigates the cost of light pollution for arthropods.Oecologia · 2025Article
- The European regulatory system for plant protection products-cause of a "Silent Spring" or highly advanced and protective?Integrated environmental assessment and management · 2025Article
- Aedes aegypti reproductive aspects: constant light significantly affects the embryonic development.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2025Article
- Pulsed artificial light at night alters moth flight behaviour.Biology letters · 2024Article
- Article
- Field comparison of broad-spectrum white LED-baited traps with narrow-spectrum green LED-baited traps in the capture of Anopheles mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae).Parasitology research · 2024Article
- Evolutionary change in flight-to-light response in urban moths comes with changes in wing morphology.Biology letters · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Reported declines in insect populations have sparked global concern, with artificial light at night (ALAN) identified as a potential contributing factor. Despite strong evidence that lighting disrupts a range of insect behaviors, the empirical evidence that ALAN diminishes wild insect abundance is limited. Using a matched-pairs design, we found that street lighting strongly reduced moth caterpillar abundance compared with unlit sites (47% reduction in hedgerows and 33% reduction in grass margins) and affected caterpillar development. A separate experiment in habitats with no history of lighting revealed that ALAN disrupted the feeding behavior of nocturnal caterpillars. Negative impacts were more pronounced under white light-emitting diode (LED) street lights compared to conventional yellow sodium lamps. This indicates that ALAN and the ongoing shift toward white LEDs (i.e., narrow- to broad-spectrum lighting) will have substantial consequences for insect populations and ecosystem processes.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.