Davies, T. W., & Smyth, T. (2018). Why artificial light at night should be a focus for global change research in the 21st century. Glob Chang Biol, 24(3), 872–882.
Abstract: The environmental impacts of artificial light at night have been a rapidly growing field of global change science in recent years. Yet, light pollution has not achieved parity with other global change phenomena in the level of concern and interest it receives from the scientific community, government and nongovernmental organizations. This is despite the globally widespread, expanding and changing nature of night-time lighting and the immediacy, severity and phylogenetic breath of its impacts. In this opinion piece, we evidence 10 reasons why artificial light at night should be a focus for global change research in the 21st century. Our reasons extend beyond those concerned principally with the environment, to also include impacts on human health, culture and biodiversity conservation more generally. We conclude that the growing use of night-time lighting will continue to raise numerous ecological, human health and cultural issues, but that opportunities exist to mitigate its impacts by combining novel technologies with sound scientific evidence. The potential gains from appropriate management extend far beyond those for the environment, indeed it may play a key role in transitioning towards a more sustainable society.
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Mayoral, O., Solbes, J., Cantó, J., & Pina, T. (2020). What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology. Agronomy, 10(7), 955.
Abstract: This paper reviews the beliefs which drive some agricultural sectors to consider the lunar influence as either a stress or a beneficial factor when it comes to organizing their tasks. To address the link between lunar phases and agriculture from a scientific perspective, we conducted a review of textbooks and monographs used to teach agronomy, botany, horticulture and plant physiology; we also consider the physics that address the effects of the Moon on our planet. Finally, we review the scientific literature on plant development, specifically searching for any direct or indirect reference to the influence of the Moon on plant physiology. We found that there is no reliable, science-based evidence for any relationship between lunar phases and plant physiology in any plant–science related textbooks or peer-reviewed journal articles justifying agricultural practices conditioned by the Moon. Nor does evidence from the field of physics support a causal relationship between lunar forces and plant responses. Therefore, popular agricultural practices that are tied to lunar phases have no scientific backing. We strongly encourage teachers involved in plant sciences education to objectively address pseudo-scientific ideas and promote critical thinking.
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Supronowicz, R., & Fryc, I. (2019). Urban park lighting as a source of botanical light pollution. Photon.Lett.PL, 11(3), 90.
Abstract: That paper describesthe relative impact of anartificial lighting deviceon botanical light pollution, consideringspectral power distribution (SPD in the lighting area. This impact is described by the Relative-to-Moon Photosynthesis Index (RMPI)and Induced Phytochrome Index (IPr). We found that in the case when lighting is realized by using LED luminaires instead of high-pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide (MH) lamps, the influence of spectral light on plant vegetation process amplifies. Additionally,our research shows that estimating botanical light pollution on the basis of lamps’CCT is not the best method and that using SPD is better for this purpose.
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Maggi, E., & Benedetti-Cecchi, L. (2018). Trophic compensation stabilizes marine primary producers exposed to artificial light at night. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 606, 1–5.
Abstract: Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a widespread phenomenon along coastal areas. Despite increasing evidence of pervasive effects of ALAN on patterns of species distribution and abundance, the potential of this emerging threat to alter ecological processes in marine ecosystems has remained largely unexplored. Here, we show how exposure to white LED lighting, comparable to that experienced along local urbanized coasts, significantly enhanced the impact of grazing gastropods on epilithic microphytobenthos (MPB). ALAN increased both the photosynthetic biomass of MPB and the grazing pressure of gastropods, such that consumers compensated for the positive effect of night lighting on primary producers. Our results indicate that trophic interactions can provide a stabilizing compensatory mechanism against ALAN effects in natural food webs.
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Dzakovich, M., Gómez, C., & Mitchell, C. (2015). Tomatoes Grown with Light-emitting Diodes or High-pressure Sodium Supplemental Lights have Similar Fruit-quality Attributes. HortScience, 50(10), 1498–1502.
Abstract: Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an attractive alternative to high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps for plant growth because of their energy-saving potential. However, the effects of supplementing broad-waveband solar light with narrow-waveband LED light on the sensory attributes of greenhouse-grown tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are largely unknown. Three separate studies investigating the effect of supplemental light quantity and quality on physicochemical and organoleptic properties of greenhouse-grown tomato fruit were conducted over 4- or 5-month intervals during 2012 and 2013. Tomato cultivars Success, Komeett, and Rebelski were grown hydroponically within a high-wire trellising system in a glass-glazed greenhouse. Chromacity, Brix, titratable acidity, electrical conductivity (EC), and pH measurements of fruit extracts indicated plant response differences between lighting treatments. In sensory panels, tasters ranked tomatoes for color, acidity, and sweetness using an objective scale, whereas color, aroma, texture, sweetness, acidity, aftertaste, and overall approval were ranked using hedonic scales. By collecting both physicochemical as well as sensory data, this study was able to determine whether statistically significant physicochemical parameters of tomato fruit also reflected consumer perception of fruit quality. Sensory panels indicated that statistically significant physicochemical differences were not noticeable to tasters and that tasters engaged in blind testing could not discern between tomatoes from different supplemental lighting treatments or unsupplemented controls. Growers interested in reducing supplemental lighting energy consumption by using intracanopy LED (IC-LED) supplemental lighting need not be concerned that the quality of their tomato fruits will be negatively affected by narrow-band supplemental radiation at the intensities and wavelengths used in this study.
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