Street lights an insect decline

I was alarmed to learn that the number of moths have declined by a third in the last fifty years. Is it time to think about street lights: link

StrandedSnowMonkey wrote:I was alarmed to learn that the number of moths have declined by a third in the last fifty years. Is it time to think about street lights: link

I thought the report was about the impact of modern, high-intensity street lighting has had by distorting  breeding cycles? 

The overall decline in moths and other insects over several decades is down to a variety of causes, most being human behaviours.

I read that it was a death by a thousand cuts. Lighting is just one thing we could address.

StrandedSnowMonkey wrote:I read that it was a death by a thousand cuts.

And that's likely true but it appeared you were linking the effects of modern street lighting and several decades of decline when actually street lighting is a recent concern. 

The problem is way bigger than only that, of course, although high intensity street lighting may well be having a significant effect - I haven't studied the report so I don't know what's been found.

Incidentally I do like modern lighting but I wonder if it needs to be as bright in regular neighbourhood situations.

I meant insect so as not to exclude any other species, and decline to broaden the topic.

Here's Wikipedia's entry on light pollution: link

It's got me interested to learn more about nocturnal pollinators.

I found another good link about moths that I thought would be good to share: link

The farmers was out cutting the margins the other day. Here's another link: The Royal Society

Light pollution is something that could be mitigated but as with almost every change there's a cost involved.  Our environment is being spoiled at the same time as it's being improved in other ways. 

Getting the balance right is the trick nobody seems able to perfect and that's because there is probably no ideal balance, no solution that would work for everyone....

It's not only light pollution - it's sound pollution too.  We live in a noisy world, the impact humans are having is severe and unprecedented.  Oceans and seas are noisy and marine creatures can not easily get away from it.

Pollinators are vital - without them we're dead and we should take more care.  Thankfully the awareness is there and developing.

I don't follow links unless there's also an explanation of why they've been given - the impact of farmers cutting margins is lost on me for now.  I have strong views on these issues however -  as you might have expected. 

Instead of a cost I see it as a lack in value. It's a matter of fashion after all.

Remember farmers also spray the fields. That's probably the worst smell. Mushroom farm's are next on my list.

I'll have to read some more on the subject hence the links.

StrandedSnowMonkey wrote:Instead of a cost I see it as a lack in value. It's a matter of fashion after all.

Remember farmers also spray the fields. That's probably the worst smell. Mushroom farm's are next on my list.

I'll have to read some more on the subject hence the links.

  I'm pretty much up on verges etc. so I'll leave things until you've learned about them....

Mushroom farms?  What have they done to offend you?  Apart from using peat as so many growers do, something that's got to be resolved pretty damned quick....

Thanks.

Don't get me wrong ~ I love mushrooms, but I remember the smell when driving near the farm.

StrandedSnowMonkey wrote:Thanks.

Don't get me wrong ~ I love mushrooms, but I remember the smell when driving near the farm.

When you said they were next on your list I thought you meant for environmental reasons etc.  Naturally farms will be smelly - mushroom farms included.

A few years ago there were complaints from residents who moved on to a new subdivision and experienced smells coming from a nearby dairy feedlot.   In response the farm operators put up signs pointing out the farm had been there long before builders bought the land across the highway from them - formerly cotton fields - and then developed it to build homes on so close by.  

We'd always been surprised that developers would build close to a feedlot and assumed potential buyers must not have cared.  Perhaps more likely they had failed to check and didn't appreciate that smells would be unavoidable. Most times we drove by the smell was intense and unmissable -  we learned to turn off the air as we drove by to avoid trapping the smell!

Our environment is constantly changing, some of the effects are natural and cyclical whereas others are very likely to be down to humankind's activities.  Often it's hard to know what we should or shouldn't be doing as we seek to improve life in various ways. 

Sometimes, though, we DO know what we should and shouldn't do and then it gets really hard to persuade or legislate accordingly, opposition to proposals a certainty from one group or another.

Just as with climate change we know what's likely to be driving some of it but making the changes and making them quickly enough to be effective looks highly unlikely.  Many negative aspects are already 'baked in' and even a total cessation of whatever activities have brought about the changes isn't going to stop them.

I agree mac



 Namaste

Oh! I saw a butterfly and a bumble bee today. Just been reading about countryside stewardship grants and field margins: link

I'll pay more attention from now on. The link says about cutting the margins in late Summer/Autumn to allow for new growth.

It's good Native spirit that you have lots of moths. I've not come across any solar farms yet.

I haven't read about whether ground-level solar farms negatively affect the countryside.  I think animals can graze in the fields they stand in but I'm not sure about that.  They must throw a degree of shadow on the ground below but I don't know if that matters but I don't know how much research has been done on their effects.

Clearly the fields can't be used to grow harvestable crops but the wild area that results would presumably be suitable for insects and animals.

StrandedSnowMonkey wrote:Oh! I saw a butterfly and a bumble bee today. Just been reading about countryside stewardship grants and field margins: link

I'll pay more attention from now on. The link says about cutting the margins in late Summer/Autumn to allow for new growth.

Field margins provide helpful areas for wildlife and can easily be managed given the willingness of those owning the land. Countryside stewardship involves costs, of course, so grants can encourage it and help those wanting to be involved.

My pet beef is the unnecessary cutting of road verges.  There is no good reason to cut them other than over short strips for traffic safety where an unobstructed view of approaching vehicles is needed such as at road junctions.

In the US we've travelled along straight roads out in the open countryside whose verges were being mown back many feet, an activity that appeared pointless and ruined huge swathes of wildlife habitat.  Other than providing work for someone - important for the individual of course - we could see no benefit other than needlessly to 'prettify' the roads.

I learned that the seed mixture to be used on the margins was 90% grass and 10% flowers. In the spring I'll have a look for flowers in the fields.

Oh! I can imagine that if thats for miles then it soon adds up to a large area.

The new lighting is affecting the Robins too:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/30/country-diary-the-robins-cant-sleep-with-these-lights-and-neither-can-i