We capture select 2025 highlights from Light Pollution News Podcast episodes below. Listen every month to stay up to date on the current research and news as how artificial light at night impacts our environment, policy, and much more. See our Ecology page for the full list of ecological and environmental news for each episode.

2025 Recap: Top Stories and More.

Recent research demonstrates that artificial light at night constitutes a pervasive ecological threat affecting multiple trophic levels from soil organisms to apex predators, spanning terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. This review organizes findings into four major themes that emerged from research and news reported on in 2025.

Soil ecosystems experience disrupted nutrient cycling and altered community composition when earthworm behavior is suppressed by artificial light at night (ALAN), with surface activity reductions of up to 76%. Migratory and resident birds face disorientation, collision mortality, and physiological stress from extended activity periods, while endangered seabird fledglings become stranded in coastal communities. Marine ecosystems show fundamental restructuring of nighttime communities with increased predation pressure and trophic imbalances on coral reefs.

Conservation solutions are emerging through legal frameworks, voluntary programs, and technological innovations, though gaps remain between scientific evidence and policy implementation. The reversible nature of light pollution (unlike persistent pollutants) offers hope that rapid, substantial benefits can be achieved through strategic lighting management. However, the evidence indicates that voluntary programs alone are insufficient, and legally binding protections integrated with enhancements like bird-safe building design and spectral optimization of lighting will be necessary to adequately protect wildlife populations in an increasingly illuminated world.

1. Soil Ecosystem Disruption and Insect Behavioral Alteration

Artificial light at night fundamentally disrupts soil ecosystems by altering the behavior of keystone species like earthworms, creating cascading effects on soil health, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem functioning.

Insect Activity Changes

• Artificial light at night alters earthworm communities and soil aggregation (Journal of Applied Ecology) – A nine-year field study near urban streetlights revealed significant changes in earthworm populations and their soil-building functions. Bluer wavelengths reduced both the number and mass of earthworms overall, while brighter lights appeared beneficial until the color temperature shifted toward blue. Different earthworm species and life stages responded uniquely to light exposure. Juvenile endogeic earthworms altered their aggregation patterns under artificial lighting, creating larger soil clumps while producing fewer small and medium-sized aggregates, revealing how nighttime illumination penetrates activities below ground to affect fundamental soil processes. (From Episode: Dark Turns)
• Web placement in grass spiders is driven more by artificial light at night than by prey (Animal Behaviour) – Experimental trials demonstrated that grass spiders (Agelenopsis pennsylvanica) prioritize light proximity over prey availability when selecting web locations. When researchers offered spiders a choice between illuminated corners without prey and dark corners with abundant prey, 79% of light-exposed spiders constructed webs near the light source compared to only 29% in control groups. This preference persisted even when prey occupied opposite corners, revealing that artificial illumination overrides natural foraging cues and draws spiders toward potentially suboptimal hunting sites. (From Episode: Dark Turns)

Atmospheric and Temporal Patterns

• Spatio-Temporal Variation in Aerial Arthropod Abundance Revealed by Weather Radars (Global Change Biology) – Weather surveillance radars monitored aerial insect populations across 35,000 square kilometers of the UK from 2014 to 2021, detecting an average of 11.2 trillion daytime insects and 5 trillion nighttime insects flying between 500-700 meters altitude during peak seasons. Nocturnal arthropods, particularly moths, declined significantly over the study period, with the steepest losses occurring in northern regions. Daytime insect numbers showed substantial year-to-year fluctuations but no consistent trend. Areas with higher artificial light pollution exhibited reduced insect activity during both day and night, while woodlands, grasslands, and urban areas supported greater abundances than intensively farmed landscapes. (From Episode: Dark Turns)

Nocturnal Insect Ecosystem Services

• Light alters calling-song characteristics in crickets (Journal of Experimental Biology) – Artificial illumination changes how male crickets produce their mate-attraction calls, with exposed individuals generating songs that differ in timing and sound quality from those in natural darkness. Such disruptions to reproductive signaling may lower breeding success and influence long-term population trends in illuminated habitats. (From Episode: Typewriters and Candlesnuff)
• Shedding light on dark taxa: exploring a cryptic diversity of parasitoid wasps affected by artificial light at night (Scientific Reports) – Research on parasitoid wasps reveals that artificial light at night (ALAN) affects even poorly-studied nocturnal insect groups, with implications for biological pest control and ecosystem functioning that remain largely unexplored. (From Episode: Typewriters and Candlesnuff)
• Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night (Nature) – Bogong moths navigate using star patterns during their annual migration, demonstrating sophisticated celestial orientation that artificial skyglow disrupts. This discovery reveals another pathway through which light pollution interferes with animal navigation beyond simple attraction to light sources. (From Episode: Keep Knocking)
• It’s miller moth season in Colorado — an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed (The Conversation) – Miller moths undertake long-distance migrations that light pollution disrupts, affecting both the moths and the ecosystems that depend on their pollination and role as food sources. Understanding these migration patterns helps identify critical dark corridors needed for moth conservation. (From Episode: Keep Knocking)
• Butterflies at porch lights: Exploring nocturnal light visitation in butterflies using community science data from iNaturalist (Insect Conservation and Diversity) – Analysis of community science observations reveals that many butterfly species visit artificial lights at night (ALAN), challenging assumptions that light attraction is primarily a moth phenomenon. Understanding which butterfly species are drawn to nighttime illumination helps identify taxa vulnerable to light pollution impacts. (From Episode: Gucci Bag Deep State)

Plant Response to Artificial Light

• Effects of different intensities of artificial light at night on functional traits of invasive and native plants (Journal of Plant Ecology) – Different light intensities produce varying effects on plant functional traits, with invasive species often showing greater plasticity and adaptation to illuminated conditions compared to native plants, potentially accelerating invasive species spread in urban and suburban areas. (From Episode: Know, But Don’t Know Your Fireflies)
• Artificial light at night: an underappreciated effect on phenology of deciduous woody plants (PNAS Nexus) – Streetlights and other nighttime illumination delay autumn leaf senescence and advance spring bud burst in deciduous trees, disrupting seasonal timing that has evolved over millennia. These phenological shifts can cascade through ecosystems by mismatching plants with their pollinators, herbivores, and seed dispersers. (From Episode: Gucci Bag Deep State)

2. Seabird and Migratory Bird Disorientation and Mortality

Artificial light at night causes widespread disorientation, attraction, and mortality in both seabirds and migratory birds, with species-specific vulnerabilities that threaten already declining populations.

Seabird Fledgling Strandings

• Navigating the night: effects of artificial light on the behaviour of Atlantic puffin fledglings (Animal Behaviour) – Beach illumination experiments near a Newfoundland puffin colony demonstrated that artificial lighting directly increases fledgling stranding rates. Young puffins showed strong attraction to light sources in controlled maze tests, moving toward illumination rather than darkness. Testing multiple bulb technologies (including high-pressure sodium and various LED color temperatures) revealed no meaningful preferences, suggesting that altering streetlight types alone will not solve the stranding problem. The evidence points to a single effective solution: reducing the amount of coastal artificial lighting during fledging season. (From Episode: Gateway Topics)
• Puffins, petrels, and places: Understanding human perceptions to prevent seabird mortality due to light pollution (Ornithological Applications) – Human perceptions and behavioral factors in seabird conservation were examined, providing social science context for understanding how community engagement can reduce light-induced seabird mortality through rescue programs and lighting modifications. (From Episode: 1 Lux)

Migratory Bird Flight Disruption

• Nocturnal flight call monitoring reveals in-flight behavioral alteration by avian migrants in response to artificial light at night (Biological Conservation) – Researchers used nocturnal flight call monitoring to document real-time behavioral changes in migrating birds exposed to ALAN. The research reveals that artificial light alters flight patterns and calling behavior during migration, providing evidence that ALAN impacts extend beyond collision mortality to include disrupted navigation and energy expenditure during critical migration periods. (From Episode: Dark Turns)

Extended Activity Periods and Physiological Impacts

• Around the world, birds sing longer in light-polluted areas (Science News) – Complementary research shows that ALAN causes birds to extend their dawn chorus, with males in illuminated areas beginning to sing up to 5 hours earlier than their counterparts in dark areas, potentially affecting breeding success and territorial behavior. (From Episode: Barely Tapped)
• Light Wavelength Modulates the Effects of Lighted Nights on Sleep, Metabolism and Oxidative Stress in Female Zebra Finches (Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A) – A controlled study examined how different light wavelengths affect avian physiology, finding that exposure to artificial light at night disrupts sleep patterns, alters metabolic processes, and increases oxidative stress. The effects vary by wavelength, with bluer light causing more pronounced disruptions than warmer wavelengths. (From Episode: Barely Tapped)
• Population variation in physiological and behavioural responses to artificial light at night (Animal Behaviour) – Responses to artificial light at night (ALAN) vary across populations, with some showing greater resilience or adaptation, highlighting the importance of considering local population differences in conservation strategies. (From Episode: Barely Tapped)

Owl-Specific Impacts

• A narrative review of the impact of anthropogenic light and noise on owls (Ibis) – A comprehensive review synthesizes existing research on how artificial light and noise pollution affect owl species, finding that these nocturnal predators experience disrupted hunting behavior, altered prey availability, and changes in territorial behavior in illuminated areas. (From Episode: Barely Tapped)

Physiological and Immune System Impacts

• Birds’ plight: Compromised cell-mediated immunity in response to ambient light pollution in redheaded buntings (Environmental Science and Pollution Research) – Ambient light pollution weakens the immune defenses of redheaded buntings, with birds in illuminated areas showing reduced cell-mediated immunity. This compromised immune function could increase disease susceptibility and reduce survival, particularly during energetically demanding migration periods. (From Episode: 10 Point Scale)

Social Context and Circadian Disruption

• Birds of a feather flock together: social context exacerbates the effects of light pollution on circadian disruption (Proceedings of the Royal Society B) – Social living amplifies the negative effects of artificial light on circadian rhythms, with birds in groups experiencing greater disruption than solitary individuals. The presence of conspecifics appears to increase nocturnal activity under artificial lighting, creating a feedback loop that intensifies circadian disturbance. (From Episode: Keep Knocking)
• Zebra finches struggle more than robust Bengalese finches with nocturnal light pollution (Journal of Experimental Biology) – Species-specific vulnerability to light pollution varies dramatically, with zebra finches showing greater sensitivity to nighttime illumination compared to Bengalese finches. Understanding these differential responses helps identify which species face greatest risk and require priority conservation attention. (From Episode: Keep Knocking)

Lunar Influence on Migration

• Lunar cycle and moonlight intensity influence nocturnal migration patterns in a small songbird (Scientific Reports) – Natural moonlight patterns guide nocturnal songbird migration, with birds adjusting their flight timing and altitude based on lunar cycles. Artificial light disrupts these ancient navigational cues by creating constant “full moon” conditions that override natural rhythms. (From Episode: Keep Knocking)

LED Streetlight Seabird Mortality

• LED Street Lights Killing Seabirds on Cape Verde (Rare Bird Alert) – LED streetlight installation on Cape Verde has created a seabird mortality crisis, with fledglings attracted to the bright white LEDs and becoming stranded or killed. The shift from warmer sodium lights to cool LED technology has intensified light attraction problems for vulnerable seabird populations. (From Episode: Gucci Bag Deep State)

• SH1 lights to be changed to protect town’s birds (RNZ) – Highway lighting modifications in New Zealand demonstrate proactive infrastructure adaptation to protect birds, with authorities agreeing to change light specifications along State Highway 1 to reduce impacts on local bird populations. (From Episode: Mother Snowy Owl)

Incubation and Breeding Success

• It Pays to Sit Tight: Stable Night-Time Incubation Increases Hatching Success in Urban and Forest Great Tits (Zoological Science) – Stable nighttime incubation behavior increases hatching success in great tits, but artificial light disrupts this behavior by causing birds to leave nests more frequently at night. Urban birds must balance light-induced activity urges against the need for consistent incubation temperature. (From Episode: Typewriters and Candlesnuff)

Conservation Success Stories

• Celebrating Successes in Reducing Bird Collisions (US Fish and Wildlife) – Successful interventions have reduced bird collision mortality, including lights-out programs and bird-safe building design, providing evidence that mitigation strategies can be highly effective when implemented. (From Episode: Gateway Topics)
• Atlantic puffins are perilously attracted to artificial light, new study shows (Mongabay) – The puffin research is contextualized within broader conservation concerns, noting that the Eastern Atlantic puffin is listed as endangered on the European Red List of Birds and that increasing coastal development is intensifying the threat from artificial light at night (ALAN). (From Episode: Gateway Topics)

3. Marine Ecosystem Trophic Imbalances and Circadian Disruption

Artificial light at night disrupts marine ecosystems by altering predator-prey dynamics, extending activity periods of typically diurnal species, and causing trophic imbalances on coral reefs and in coastal waters.

Coral Reef Community Alterations

• Artificial Light Increases Nighttime Prevalence of Predatory Fishes, Altering Community Composition on Coral Reefs (Global Change Biology) – A landmark experimental study on a Polynesian coral reef used underwater infrared cameras to reveal that prolonged artificial light at night (ALAN) exposure (average 25 nights) significantly increased fish species richness at night compared to control sites. Critically, the increased species were predatory fish (piscivores, invertivores, and planktivores), including both nocturnal species and diurnal species that remained active beyond their normal activity periods. Many typically diurnal fish species were found active at night on illuminated reefs, suggesting ALAN disrupts essential sleep and recovery periods. Short-term exposure (3 nights) showed little effect, but prolonged exposure caused measurable trophic imbalances and circadian disturbances, suggesting that managing lighting duration could mitigate impacts. (From Episode: Pie Tins)

Visual and Behavioral Disruptions in Fish

• Artificial light at night impairs visual lateralisation in a fish (Journal of Experimental Biology) – artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts the normal visual lateralization in fish (the tendency to use one eye preferentially for certain tasks), which can impair predator detection, social interactions, and navigation abilities in marine species. (From Episode: Pie Tins)

Broader Marine Ecological Consequences

• Ecological consequences of artificial light at night on coastal species in natural and artificial habitats: a review (Marine Biology) – Findings across multiple coastal species and habitats were synthesized in a comprehensive review, documenting disruptions to reproductive behaviors, feeding patterns, and predator-prey relationships. The review emphasizes that artificial light at night (ALAN) effects cascade through marine food webs, affecting not just individual species but entire ecosystem functioning. (From Episode: Pie Tins)
• Limited microbial community responses of marine macroalgae to artificial light at night and moderate warming conditions (Marine Environmental Research) – Researchers examined whether artificial light at night (ALAN) affects the microbial communities associated with marine macroalgae, finding limited direct effects but suggesting that combined stressors (light pollution plus warming) may have synergistic impacts on marine primary producers. (From Episode: Dark Turns)

Marine Light Pollution Science Initiative

• Marine light pollution science initiative endorsed by United Nations (University of Plymouth) – Growing international recognition of marine light pollution as a significant environmental issue is highlighted, with the UN endorsement providing momentum for global research coordination and policy development to address artificial light at night (ALAN) in marine environments. (From Episode: Gateway Topics)

Invertebrate and Behavioral Responses

• The impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) spectral composition on key behavioral traits of a sandy beach isopod (Marine Pollution Bulletin) – The spectral composition of artificial light at night (ALAN) differentially affects marine invertebrate behavior, with certain wavelengths causing greater disruption to essential activities like foraging and predator avoidance. (From Episode: Fly to the Right)
• Impacts of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) on coastal ecosystems: A study on the herbivore Ampithoe valida with focus on sex-dependent responses (Marine Pollution Bulletin) – Male and female marine amphipods respond differently to artificial light at night (ALAN), with sex-specific behavioral and physiological changes that could alter population dynamics and ecosystem functioning in coastal areas. These differential responses highlight the complexity of artificial light at night (ALAN) impacts on marine invertebrates. (From Episode: Mother Snowy Owl)

Algal Bloom and Primary Production

• Artificial light pollution could fuel growth of toxic algal blooms (New Scientist) – Nighttime illumination promotes the growth of harmful algal species by extending their photosynthetic period and altering competitive dynamics with other phytoplankton. Light pollution may contribute to increased frequency and severity of toxic algal blooms in coastal waters, threatening marine life and human health. (From Episode: Gucci Bag Deep State)

Salmon Migration

• How young salmon navigate a gauntlet of danger en route to the sea (Science Daily) – Young salmon face multiple threats during their migration to the sea, with artificial light creating novel dangers by altering their behavior and increasing predation risk. Nighttime illumination along migration routes disrupts natural movement patterns and exposes fish during vulnerable life stages. (From Episode: Mother Snowy Owl)

4. Conservation Initiatives, Policy Development, and Mitigation Strategies

Growing recognition of artificial light at night (ALAN) impacts has spurred community-led conservation programs, policy frameworks, and evidence-based mitigation strategies, though significant gaps between voluntary and mandatory measures remain.

Legal and Policy Frameworks

• Electric Utilities Sued Over Lighting and Wildlife Issues (Inside Lighting),
• Lawsuits Seek To Protect Hawaiian Seabirds From Too-Bright Streetlights (Civil Beat),
• Hawaiian Electric and Conservation Groups Reach Settlement to Protect Imperiled Seabirds (EarthJustice)
• Protecting Hawai’i’s Rare Native Seabirds from Lights (EarthJustice) – Multiple lawsuits against Hawaiian Electric over excessive streetlight brightness threatening endangered seabirds culminated in a settlement agreement establishing specific lighting modifications and timelines, while ongoing legal cases seek comprehensive protections from light pollution associated with powerlines and structures, representing a significant shift toward using litigation to enforce wildlife protection and establish precedent for wildlife-protective lighting requirements. (From Episode: Pie Tins)

Lights Out Programs

• Reducing light pollution, this city ‘went dark’ to save birds — and it worked (Good Good Good) – Measurable success in reducing bird collision mortality through lights-out programs in Texas cities provides quantitative evidence that voluntary participation can significantly reduce bird deaths during migration periods. (From Episode: Fly to the Right)
• ‘Lights Out’ initiative appears to be saving birds from crashing into Philly buildings (WHYY) – Philadelphia’s lights-out program shows reduced bird collisions, with systematic monitoring demonstrating that even partial participation by building owners yields measurable conservation benefits. (From Episode: Fly to the Right)

Architectural and Design Solutions

• Environmental Commission applauds progress on bird-safe buildings (Austin Monitor) – Austin’s progress in implementing bird-safe building design standards integrates lighting management with window treatments to reduce both attraction and collision risks. (From Episode: 1 Lux)

• Opinion: Flipping The Switch And Protecting Our Feathered Friends (City Limits) – Expanded lights-out policies in New York City are advocated, arguing that simple behavioral changes during migration seasons can have substantial conservation impacts. (From Episode: 1 Lux)

Technology and Innovation

• Mitigating light pollution through motion-controlled LED lighting to protect bats (NIH) – Motion-controlled LED lighting was tested as a strategy to reduce light exposure for bat species while maintaining human safety needs, with findings showing that adaptive lighting systems can significantly reduce impacts on nocturnal wildlife. (From Episode: Dark Turns)
• Mitigating light pollution impacts on arthropods based on light-emitting diode properties (Conservation Biology) – Specific LED properties (wavelength, intensity, timing) were examined to determine how they can be optimized to reduce impacts on arthropods, providing technical guidance for wildlife-conscious lighting design. (From Episode: 1 Lux)

Spectral Considerations

• Colours of the Night: Spectrum-Specific Impacts of Light Pollution on Biota (NIH) – Evidence on how different light spectra differentially affect various taxa was synthesized in a review, emphasizing that “warm” amber/red lights generally cause less disruption than “cool” blue/white lights, though impacts remain species-specific. (From Episode: Dark Turns)

Nocturnal Pollinator Conservation

• Pollination Across the Diel Cycle: A Global Meta-Analysis (Ecology Letters) – A global meta-analysis reveals that nocturnal pollination contributes substantially to plant reproduction across ecosystems, with nighttime pollinators visiting flowers as frequently as daytime species. Protecting darkness becomes critical for maintaining pollination services and food security. Nocturnal pollinators provide ecosystem services comparable to bees and other day-active pollinators, yet receive far less conservation attention. Light pollution threatens these overlooked but essential contributors to agricultural productivity and wild plant reproduction. (From Episode: Know, But Don’t Know Your Fireflies)

Spectral Solutions and Lighting Innovation

• Blended-red lighting partially mitigates the cost of light pollution for arthropods (Oecologia) – Red-shifted lighting reduces but does not eliminate impacts on arthropods compared to white or blue-rich light. While spectral tuning offers some benefits, the research emphasizes that reduced light intensity and duration remain more effective strategies than color modification alone. (From Episode: Typewriters and Candlesnuff)

Cultural and Educational Narratives

• Fireflies: A Chinese story of love and loss (Dialog Earth) – Cultural connections to fireflies in China highlight how light pollution erodes both ecological and cultural heritage. Traditional associations between fireflies and romantic settings face extinction as urbanization eliminates dark habitats, representing a loss that extends beyond biology to human cultural identity. (From Episode: 10 Point Scale)

Community-Led Mitigation

• Streets going dark to deter mayflies (News5) – Communities along Lake Erie voluntarily dim or extinguish streetlights during mayfly emergences to reduce insect attraction and mortality. This seasonal lighting adaptation demonstrates how municipalities can implement flexible lighting strategies that balance human needs with wildlife protection during critical biological events. (From Episode: Know, But Don’t Know Your Fireflies)