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A meta-analysis of biological impacts of artificial light at night

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 5, pages 74–81 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Natural light cycles are being eroded over large areas of the globe by the direct emissions and sky brightening that result from sources of artificial night-time light. This is predicted to affect wild organisms, particularly because of the central role that light regimes play in determining the timing of biological activity. Although many empirical studies have reported such effects, these have focused on particular species or local communities and have thus been unable to provide a general evaluation of the overall frequency and strength of these impacts. Using a new database of published studies, we show that exposure to artificial light at night induces strong responses for physiological measures, daily activity patterns and life history traits. We found particularly strong responses with regards to hormone levels, the onset of daily activity in diurnal species and life history traits, such as the number of offspring, predation, cognition and seafinding (in turtles). So far, few studies have focused on the impact of artificial light at night on ecosystem functions. The breadth and often strength of biological impacts we reveal highlight the need for outdoor artificial night-time lighting to be limited to the places and forms—such as timing, intensity and spectrum—where it is genuinely required by the people using it to minimize ecological impacts.

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Fig. 1: Physiological, phenological, life history trait, activity pattern and population/community-based responses to ALAN exposure.
Fig. 2: Effect sizes for the measures from the main categories.
Fig. 3: Activity patterns and light intensity.

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Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are available from the Dryad Digital Repository160.

Code availability

The computer code for the meta-analysis is available from the Dryad Digital Repository160.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Sánchez-Tójar, B. W. T. Coetzee and D. T. C. Cox for comments and discussions, and A. Voronkova for translations. This work was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council grant no. NE/N001672/1.

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  1. Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK

    Dirk Sanders & Kevin J. Gaston

  2. Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK

    Dirk Sanders, Rachel Kehoe & Christophe Patterson

  3. Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations, Montpellier, France

    Enric Frago

  4. Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier SupAgro, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Enric Frago

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K.J.G. conceived the study. K.J.G. and D.S. designed the study. D.S., R.K. and C.P. extracted the data. E.F. and D.S. analysed the data. D.S., E.F., R.K. and K.J.G. prepared the manuscript.

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Sanders, D., Frago, E., Kehoe, R. et al. A meta-analysis of biological impacts of artificial light at night. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 74–81 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01322-x

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