This page is to share news and additional information pertaining the book Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting and its subject. Please send us your reactions to the book, news of new research, or anecdotes about the effects of artificial lighting on nature. Send any submittals to longcore@urbanwildlands.org with permission to post.

June 18, 2009 -- Must read new reseach from Emma Stone and colleagues on how streetlights disrupt corridors of slow-flying bats (see the Guardian). This research confirms the impacts on connectivity from artificial lights described in Ecological Consequences of Artifical Night Lighting and especially Jens Rydell's chapter on bats. The article in Current Biology is linked here.

March 2008 -- The Urban Wildlands Group's work is featured in an article in Chicago Wilderness Magazine about a groundbreaking new ordinance to protect the nighttime environment from excess light in Homer Glen, Illinois.

March 17, 2008 -- Ben Harder of U.S. News and World Report published an article on light pollution that cites Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting.

October 21, 2007 -- Science Director Travis Longcore spoke at the Morongo Basin Lighting Conference in late September. News account here.

June 24, 2007 -- "The Nightsat mission concept" is a proposal for a new satellite to measure artificial night lighting, recently published in the International Journal of Remote Sensing. UWG Executive Officer Catherine Rich and Science Director Travis Longcore are co-authors.

January 2007 -- Thorough new article in Zoogoer magazine titled "Dark, Interrupted."

December 2006 -- A new study from B.J. Baker and J.M.L. Richardson in Canada shows that breeding behavior of male green tree frogs was affected by artificial light, in this instance provided by a hand-held flashlight. Male frogs exposed to the light moved more often, and made fewer and less complex advertisement calls than under ambient light. This has significant implications for impact analysis involving the introduction of intermittent light sources around wetlands (e.g., security lights, car headlights, etc.).

June 1, 2006 -- Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Ligthing is reviewed in the Electronic Green Journal.

May 2006 -- Ecological Consequencs of Artificial Night Lighting is reviewed in the current issue of the Newsletter of the International Dark Sky Association.

April 7, 2006 -- Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting is reviewed in Science. David Hill of the UK consultancy RPS is the reviewer. Pdf is here.

March 21, 2006 -- Research on dark skies by the National Park Service's Night Sky Team and research on the effects of night light on species decline from Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting are featured as the cover story this week in Science News.

February 27, 2006 -- Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting is featured in an article in the Orange County Register (free registration required) and in the Honolulu Advertiser.

February 14, 2006 -- Mark W. Miller just published an article in The Condor on the effects of artificial night lighting on singing behavior of American Robins. This study conclusively shows the influence of artificial lighting on the time of onset of American Robin choruses. The paper includes comparison of current chorus timing with historical records from Harry Allard (also known for recording the onset of firefly activity) and Aldo Leopold. This paper represents a well-designed statistically robust demonstration of a phenomenon (birds singing under artificial lights) that has been recorded in anecdotal form for over fifty years. Miller raises a series of possible implications of altered timing and increased duration of singing for the birds; these should be the focus of future research. -TL

Miller, M.W. 2006. Apparent effects of light pollution on singing behavior of American Robins. The Condor 108:130-139

December 27, 2005 -- Two recent articles provide further evidence that increased illumination is associated with higher predation on nesting seabirds. Keitt et al. (2004) showed that Western Gulls predated most on Black-vented Shearwaters in daylight, at intermediate levels in moonlight, and the least in complete darkness. A subsequent article (Oro et al. 2005) documented increased predation by Yellow-legged Gulls on European Storm-petrels after illimination was increased by the installation of new lights at a nearby city. Both studies support the conclusion that artificial lighting poses a hazard to colonies of nesting seabirds. Significant adverse impacts may result from artificial light such as light-induced fisheries, offshore liquid natural gas terminals (LNG), or urban lights around seabird nesting colonies. -TL

Keitt, B.S., B.R. Tershy, and D.A. Croll. 2004. Nocturnal behavior reduces predation pressure on Black-vented Shearwaters Puffinus opisthomelas. Marine Ornithology 32:173-178.

Oro, D., A. de Leon, E. Minguez, and R.W. Furness. 2005. Estimating predation on breeding European storm-petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) by yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis). Journal of Zoology 265:421-429.