Animals & nature · 2016
How do moth activity and pollen transport differ between places with and without street lights?
At sites with street lights, researchers found fewer moths near the ground and less pollen transport overall, but more flight activity at light height. This field study compared matched lit and unlit sites; it suggests a possible disruption of nighttime pollination, rather than proving that plants received less pollen.
Details
Researchers used several sampling methods to compare moths at matched pairs of sites with and without existing street lights. Near the ground, moth abundance at lit sites was half that at unlit sites, and the number of moth species was more than 25% lower. Yet flight activity at the height of the lights was 70% greater. These contrasting patterns matter: greater activity around a light does not mean more moths throughout the surrounding area.
Across the moths sampled, 23% carried pollen, representing at least 28 plant species. Overall pollen transport was lower at lit sites. Together, the findings support the idea that street lighting disrupts moth activity and may affect their role in nighttime pollination. However, this comparison of existing sites does not by itself establish causation, and pollen transport is not a direct measure of successful plant pollination. The study also does not establish that lighting caused long-term moth population declines.
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