TY  - JOUR
A1  - Eccard, Jana
A1  - Scheffler, Ingo
A1  - Franke, Steffen
A1  - Hoffmann, Julia
T1  - Off-grid
BT  - solar powered LED illumination impacts epigeal arthropods
JF  - Insect conservation and diversity
N2  - 1. Advances in LED technology combined with solar, storable energy bring light to places remote from electricity grids. Worldwide more than 1.3 billion of people are living off-grid, often in developing regions of high insect biodiversity. In developed countries, dark refuges for wildlife are threatened by ornamental garden lights. Solar powered LEDs (SPLEDs) are cheaply available, dim, and often used to illuminate foot paths, but little is known on their effects on ground living (epigeal) arthropods.
2. We used off-the-shelf garden lamps with a single ‘white’ LED (colour temperature 7250 K) to experimentally investigate effects on attraction and nocturnal activity of ground beetles (Carabidae).
3. We found two disparate and species-specific effects of SPLEDs. (i) Some nocturnal, phototactic species were not reducing activity under illumination and were strongly attracted to lamps (>20-fold increase in captures compared to dark controls). Such species aggregate in lit areas and SPLEDs may become ecological traps, while the species is drawn from nearby, unlit assemblages. (ii) Other nocturnal species were reducing mobility and activity under illumination without being attracted to light, which may cause fitness reduction in lit areas.
4. Both reactions offer mechanistic explanations on how outdoor illumination can change population densities of specific predatory arthropods, which may have cascading effects on epigeal arthropod assemblages. The technology may thus increase the area of artificial light at night (ALAN) impacting insect biodiversity.
5. Measures are needed to mitigate effects, such as adjustment of light colour temperature and automated switch-offs.
KW  - Artificial light at night (ALAN)
KW  - Carabidae
KW  - illuminance
KW  - light pollution
KW  - light spectrum
KW  - nocturnal epigeal insect
KW  - phototaxis
KW  - solar powered light-emitting diode
KW  - spectral irradiance
KW  - white light
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12303
SN  - 1752-458X
SN  - 1752-4598
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
SP  - 600
EP  - 607
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -