Page 4 - Insect Conservation News Today

Science for just $15 USD. Summary Each summer, on bridges across the world, mayfly massacres occur. Warm weather prompts these aquatic insects to emerge as short-lived adults that are lured to early deaths by artificial lighting on bridges. Mayflies arent alone in their fatal attraction to what researchers refer to as ALAN: artificial light at night. Studies from around the globe are finding worrisome impacts on insect mating and abundance, according to a recent special issue of Insect Conserv...

SunStar May 06, 2021 IN THE modern world, lighting at night is a necessity. We have street lights and perimeter lights for safety and security on the road and in our homes. There are also decorative lights, neon signs and others. Apart from the moon’s light however, any illumination at night is unnatural and thus bound to have an impact on ecological systems. This was proven by several studies. A team led by the University of Exeter brought together more than 100 studies and foun...

The unintended but very harmful effects of artificial light at night on insects Tom Metcalfe © Provided by NBC News With the world on the brink of an "insect apocalypse," scientists have revealed yet another way we may be wreaking havoc on our six-legged friends: light pollution. Two new studies underline the unintended effects on insects of artificial light at night, and add to broader concerns that our understanding of humanity’s impact on nature is still a work in progres...

A Fireflys View of the Insect Apocalypse
 Initiatives to Address Light-related Animal Welfare Challenges Published 03-17-21 Image © SukumaFumio for Brilliant Darkness: Hotaru in the Night NEW YORK, March 17, 2021, /CSRwire/ — The Zoological Lighting Institute™ (ZLI) recognizes the publication of an important new study enhancing growing awareness that light pollution is driving the insect apocalypse, a deadly global decline in insect populations that threatens food security and human sus...

Credit: Sulema Castro/Smithsonian Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a major factor in global insect decline. In a paper published today in Insect Conservation and Diversity, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists and partners found that using amber-colored filters to remove the blue spectra of light from "warm white" LED (light-emitting diode) lamps drastically reduces insect attraction to nocturnal lighting in a tropical forest. This is the first study to validate quan...

NASA Researchers examined an area in the Amazon basin that had never before been exposed to artificial light. Insects make our lives better — they are an important piece of the food chain and they pollinate the plants we use for food and backyard ambiance. But humans make those jobs more difficult, in part because the artificial light we use alters insects’ normal behavior. New research by UCLA and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute shows how the kind of light people use makes a...

C. Hui is a Professor of Mathematics and the South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Mathematical and Theoretical Physical Biosciences based at Stellenbosch University and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in South Africa. His research focuses on developing models and theories for explaining emerging patterns of biodiversity, networks, and traits in ecology and evolution. CH has published more than 190 papers and received the Elsevier Young Scientist Award in 2011. CH and David M...

Monarch Population in California Spirals to Another Record Low By Emma Pelton on 30 November 2020 Emma Pelton [Editors note: This blog was revised on Friday, 12/11/20, to update the population estimates with new count data.] Early count numbers from Xerces’ Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count suggest that the western migratory population is headed for an all-time low. With approximately 95% of the data in, only 1,800 monarchs have been reported. We ant...

Print This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to list the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on the federal endangered species list. The decision is especially shocking considering that recent reports show that the over-wintering population of monarchs in California, which numbered more than a million in the late 1990s, has dropped to less than 2000 butterflies this year. Unfortunately, monarch butterflies are emblematic of the current biodiversity crisis that, if left unchec...