Light Pollution

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Night is certainly more novel and less profane than day.

–Henry David Thoreau

One of the most visually conspicuous changes to the globe in the past hundred years has been the spread of dusk-to-dawn electric lighting at night.  Dr. Longcore has investigated the effects of artificial light at night for nearly 20 years, starting with Catherine Rich in the late 1990s in a successful effort to stop a proposal to light a bridge in Los Angeles with beams pointed straight up into the sky, after which they organized the first international conference on Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting in 2002.  The conference led to the landmark paper “Ecological Light Pollution” in 2004 and the book Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting in 2006.

In 2002, the American researchers Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich organized the first conference on the ecological consequences of artificial light at night. That meeting, and a research textbook that Longcore and Rich published afterward, are widely considered the genesis of interest in the environmental-science community.

Rebecca Boyle, The Atlantic, September 2019
Video describing the motivation for and techniques used in the Coast Light project.

Current Projects

Tracking light pollution in the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve

Effects of LEDs on Terrestrial Wildlife, Caltrans (2020-2022)

Coast Light: Actionable Science to Manage Coastal Nightscapes, Sea Grant (2018-2020).

Publications

Aulsebrook, A. E., A. Jechow, A. Krop-Benesch, C. C. M. Kyba, T. Longcore, E. K. Perkin, and R. H. A. van Grunsven. Nocturnal lighting in animal research should be replicable and reflect ecological conditions. Biology Letters 18: 2022035 (2022).

Sordello, R., S. Busson. J. H. Cornuau, P. Deverchère, B. Faure; A. Guetté, F. Hölker, C. Kerbiriou, T. Lengagne, I. Le Viol, T. Longcore, P. Moeschler, J. Ranzoni, N. Ray, Y. Reyjol, Y. Roulet, S. Schroer, J. Secondi, N. Valet, S. Vanpeene, and S. Vauclair. Considering light pollution in ecological networks: a plea for a worldwide development of dark infrastructure for biodiversity. Landscape and Urban Planning 219:104322 (2022).  

Hölker, F., J. Bolliger, T. W. Davies, S. Giavi, A. Jechow, G. Kalinkat, T. Longcore, K. Spoelstra, S. Tidau, M. E. Visser, and E. Knop. 11 pressing research questions on how light pollution affects biodiversity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9:767177 (2021).

Simons, A. L., K. L. M. Martin, and T. Longcore. Determining the effects of artificial light at night on the distributions of Western Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) and California Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) in Southern California. Journal of Coastal Research 38:302–309 (2021).

Zhong, C., T. Longcore, J. Benbow, N. Chung, S. S. Wang, J. V. Lacey Jr., and M. Franklin. Environmental influences on sleep in the California Teachers Study Cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology (2021).

Barentine, J. C., K. Walczak, G. Gyuk, C. Tarr, and T. Longcore. A case for a new satellite mission for remote sensing of night lights. International Journal of Remote Sensing 13(12):2294 (2021).

Deichmann, Jessica L., C. Ampudia Gatty, J. M. Andia, A. Alonso, R. Linares-Palomino, and T. Longcore. Reducing the blue spectrum in artificial light at night minimizes insect attraction in a tropical lowland forest. Insect Conservation & Diversity 14:247–259 (2021).

Zhong, C., M. Franklin, J. Wiemels, N. Chung, J. Benbow, S. S. Wang, J. V. Lacey Jr., and T. Longcore. Artificial light at night increases risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among women in the California Teachers Study cohort. Cancer Epidemiology 69:101811 (2020).

Longcore, T., D. Duriscoe, M. Aubé, A. Jechow, C. C. M. Kyba, and K. L. Pendoley. 2020. Commentary: Brightness of the night sky affects Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle hatchling misorientation but not nest site selection. Frontiers in Marine Science (2020).

Simons, A.L., X. Yin, and T. Longcore. High correlation but high scale-dependent variance between satellite measured night lights and terrestrial exposure. Environmental Research Communications 2:021006. See video:

Longcore, T. 2018. Hazard or hope? LEDs and wildlife. LED Professional Review 70:52–57.

Longcore, T., A. Rodríguez, B. Witherington, J. Penniman, L. Herf, and M. Herf. 2018. Rapid assessment of lamp spectrum to quantify ecological effects of light at night. Journal of Experimental Zoology A 329: 511–521.

Donners, M., R. H. A. van Grunsven, D. Groenendijk, F. van Langevelde, J. W. Bikker, T. Longcore, and E. Veenendaal. Colours of attraction: a general model for insect phototaxis. 2018. Journal of Experimental Zoology A 329:434–440.

Gillespie, T. W., K. S. Willis, S. Ostermann-Kelm, T. Longcore, F. Federico, L. Lee, and G. M. MacDonald. 2017. Inventorying and monitoring night light distribution and dynamics in the Mediterranean Coast Network of Southern California. Natural Areas Journal 37(3):500-510.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2016. Artificial night lighting and protected lands: ecological effects and management approaches. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/NSNS/NRR—2016/1213. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, 51 pp.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2016. Ecological and organismic effects of light pollution. eLS: Citable Reviews in the Life Sciences doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0026328.

Swaddle, J. P., C. D. Francis, J. R. Barber, C. Cooper, C. C. M. Kyba, D. M. Dominoni, G. Shannon, E. Aschehoug, S. Goodwin, A. Y. Kawahara, D. Luther, K. Spoelstra, M. Voss, and T. Longcore. 2015. A framework to assess evolutionary responses to anthropogenic light and sound. Trends in Ecology and Evolution doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.009.

Longcore, T., Aldern, H. J. Eggers, S. Flores, L. Franco, E. Hirshfield-Yamanishi, L. Petrinec, W. Yan, and A. Barroso. 2015. Tuning the white light spectrum of LEDs to reduce attraction of nocturnal arthropods. Philosophical Transactions B doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0125.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, P. Mineau, B. MacDonald, D. Bert, L. M. Sullivan, E. Mutrie, S. A. Gauthreaux Jr., M. L. Avery, R. L. Crawford, A. M. Manville II, E. R. Travis, and D. Drake. 2013. Avian mortality at communication towers in the United States and Canada: which species, how many, and where? Biological Conservation 158:410-419.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, P. Mineau, B. MacDonald, D. Bert, L. M. Sullivan, E. Mutrie, S. A. Gauthreaux Jr., M. L. Avery, R. L. Crawford, A. M. Manville II, E. R. Travis, and D. Drake 2012. An estimate of avian mortality at communication towers in the United States and Canada. PLoS ONE 7(4):e34025.

Video introducing our research on avian mortality and communication towers.

Rodrigues, P., C. Aubrecht, A. Gil, T. Longcore, and C. Elvidge. 2012. Remote sensing to map influence of light pollution on Cory’s shearwater in São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago. European Journal of Wildlife Research58:147-155.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2010. Light pollution and ecosystems. ActionBioscience.org original article.

Aubrecht, C. M. Stojan-Dolar, A. de Sherbinin, M. Jaiteh, T. Longcore, and C. Elvidge. 2010. Lighting governance for protected areas and beyond – Identifying the urgent need for sustainable management of artificial light at night. Earthzine.

Longcore, T. 2010. Sensory ecology: night lights alter reproductive behavior of blue tits [invited Dispatch]. Current Biology 20(20):R893-R895.

Aubrecht, C., C. Elvidge, T. Longcore, C. Rich, J. Safran, A. Strong, M. Eakin, K. E. Baugh, B. Tuttle, P. J. Hayes, A. T. Howard, and E. H. Erwin. 2008. A global inventory of development, gas flaring, and fishing proximity to coral reefs. Geocarto International 23(6):467-479. (Press release in English, Spanish, Korean; coverage in Conservation Magazine online, and Oceanography).

Aubrecht, C., C. D. Elvidge, D. Ziskin, T. Longcore, and C. Rich. 2008. “When the lights stay on” – A novel approach to assessing human impact on the environment. Earthzine.

Longcore, T., C. Rich, and S. A. Gauthreaux, Jr. 2008. Height, guy wires, and steady-burning lights increase hazard of communication towers to nocturnal migrants: a review and meta-analysis. Auk 125(2):486–493.

Elvidge, C.D., P. Cinzano, J. Arvesen, P. Sutton, C. Small, R. Nemani, T. Longcore, C. Rich, J. Weeks, and S. Ebener. 2007. The Nightsat mission concept. International Journal of Remote Sensing 28(12):2645–2670.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2007. Lights out! For nature. Pp. 165–171 in C. Marín and J. Jafari (eds.), StarLight: a common heritage. StarLight Initiative La Palma Biosphere Reserve, Instituto De Astrofísica De Canarias, Government of The Canary Islands, Spanish Ministry of The Environment, UNESCO – MaB., Canary Islands, Spain.

Rich, C. and T. Longcore. (eds.). 2006. Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Nightingale, B., T. Longcore, and C. A. Simenstad. 2006. Artificial night lighting and fishes. Pages 257–276 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Rich, C., and T. Longcore. 2006. Introduction. Pages 1–13 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2006. Synthesis. Pages 413–430 in C. Rich and T. Longcore (eds.). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

Longcore, T., and C. Rich. 2004. Ecological light pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2(4):191–198.