Research – Page 4 – Travis Longcore

April 12, 2017July 7, 2017

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Nighttime Lighting In and Around National Parks

Yu Chuan Shan, Ben Banet, and I have been working the past couple of years on developing a monthly database of upward radiance from within and buffers around all of the National Park units in the United States. They are presenting the research today at the USC undergraduate research symposium. The results presented only scratch … Continue reading Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Nighttime Lighting In and Around National Parks

January 4, 2017January 15, 2017

Healthy Urbanism in Polluted Cities

Colleagues at USC Environmental Health Centers are putting together a 1-day conference titled Parks, Pollution, and Obesity. I’ve been awarded a USC Architecture Graduate Research Scholar grant to work with this group to bridge between the public health researchers and landscape architects and urbanists. The premise is as follows. Awareness among landscape architects, urban … Continue reading Healthy Urbanism in Polluted Cities

August 20, 2016August 20, 2016

Invasion of the Earthworms

Image: San Clemente Island by Shishir Paudel Many of the species of earthworms in North America are exotic species and their presence alters native ecosystems in profound ways that resonate from the soil up through the vegetation and into the vertebrate communities. So when word came that the US Navy had found earthworms on San … Continue reading Invasion of the Earthworms

June 25, 2016

Unintentional Media Blitz

As a result of the new atlas of of artificial night sky brightness I ended up doing a lot of interviews for national and international outlets, including Science Magazine, Takepart.com, Christian Science Monitor, Scientific American, and USA Today. Then the American Medical Association released a statement on LED lighting (for which I had provided some … Continue reading Unintentional Media Blitz

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016

Predicting Continental-Scale Bird Migration Routes from Landscape Parameters

William Winters, one of my GIST students, successfully filed his MS thesis last fall, in which he created proof-of-concept models for bird migration routes at the continental scale. We developed the topic as a way to fill in a missing scale in the efforts to reduce mortality of birds at towers and buildings. At the … Continue reading Predicting Continental-Scale Bird Migration Routes from Landscape Parameters

April 9, 2016April 9, 2016

Belowground interactions with aboveground consequences: Invasive earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Shishir Paudel, Travis Longcore, Beau MacDonald, Melissa K. McCormick, Katalin Szlavecz, Gail W. T. Wilson, and Scott R. Loss Ecology Volume 97, Issue 3, March 2016, Pages 605–614 Abstract. A mounting body of research suggests that invasive nonnative earthworms substantially alter microbial communities, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These changes to AMF can cascade to affect plant communities and vertebrate populations. Despite these … Continue reading Belowground interactions with aboveground consequences: Invasive earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

March 26, 2016

Heading to New Orleans: Ecologically Sensitive Lighting Design

Landscape architects, mark your calendars. I’ll be part of a joint presentation on Ecologically Sensitive Lighting Design that was just accepted to the American Society of Landscape Architects annual meeting in New Orleans this fall. I teamed up with lighting designer Linnaea Tillett and lighting engineer Nancy Clanton, two of the top landscape lighting experts … Continue reading Heading to New Orleans: Ecologically Sensitive Lighting Design

November 4, 2015January 9, 2016

Optics and Photonics News Covers Environmental Impacts of Lighting

The message that lights can have environmental consequences becomes more and more mainstream. Optics and Photonics News this month has an article by freelance writer Jeff Hecht, with whom I’ve spoked for other stories before. His article is a multi-page spread and emphasizes both spectrum and intensity and their potential impacts, as well as the … Continue reading Optics and Photonics News Covers Environmental Impacts of Lighting

November 4, 2015April 9, 2016

Expert quote on exciting new light pollution research

Australian zoologist Kylie Robert and colleagues have published an exciting new paper on the disruption of breeding patterns and melatonin levels in a free-ranging native mammal. I had the chance to comment on the significance of this research for Science News and am delighted that Dr. Robert will also be presenting at the Annual General … Continue reading Expert quote on exciting new light pollution research

July 12, 2015July 12, 2015

A framework to assess evolutionary responses to anthropogenic light and sound

John P. Swaddle*, Clinton D. Francis*, Jesse R. Barber, Caren B. Cooper, Christopher C.M. Kyba, Davide M. Dominoni, Graeme Shannon, Erik Aschehoug, Sarah E. Goodwin, Akito Y. Kawahara, David Luther, Kamiel Spoelstra, Margaret Voss, Travis Longcore Highlights Anthropogenic light and sound are an important component of global change. These stimuli often co-occur and may function … Continue reading A framework to assess evolutionary responses to anthropogenic light and sound