Colours of the night: spectrum-specific impacts of light pollution on biota

Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts ecosystems by altering natural light cycles and affecting species’ physiology and behavior. This meta-analysis examines how different wavelengths and intensities of ALAN impact organisms. Broad-spectrum “cool” light, enriched with blue and ultraviolet radiation, strongly disrupts circadian rhythms, melatonin production, and nocturnal activity. However, against common belief, broad-spectrum \"warm\" light is almost as impactful as broad-spectrum \"cool\" light without ultraviolet radiation, even though physiological processes are mostly influenced by short wavelengths. The impact of ALAN is not consistently dose-dependent, as even dim light often causes substantial biological disruptions. Thus, effective mitigation strategies require tailored solutions to specific ecological contexts and should generally avoid nocturnal illumination unless clearly needed, as there is no single “safe dose” and “safe spectrum” of ALAN., We conducted literature searches in electronic academic databases: Web of Science and Scopus for peer-reviewed papers published in English until 30 August 2023. We used the following terms TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( \"Artificial light*\"  OR  \"Light* pollution\"  OR  \"Light* at night\"  OR  \"night time light*\" )  AND  ( \"light intensity\"  OR  \"spectral composition\"  OR  \"spectral sensitivity\"  OR  \"colo*r\"  OR  \"wavelength\"  OR  \"LED light\"  OR  \"HPS light\"  OR  \"red light\"  OR  \"blue light\" )  AND  ( \"species\"  OR  \"ecosystem*\"  OR  \"ecology\"  OR  \"community composition\"  OR  \"phototaxis\"  OR  \"flight to light\"  OR  \"stress\"  OR  \"abundance\"  OR  \"behav*\"  OR  \"reproduction\"  OR  \"predat*\"  OR  \"activity\"  OR  \"physiolog*\"  OR  \"melatonin\"&nbs..., , # Data from: Colours of the night: spectrum-specific impacts of light pollution on biota

\**M. Czarnecka, M. Grubisic, F. Pilotto, A. Jechow, F. Hölker.
 

**Data S1: Spectrum-specific impacts of light pollution on biota**

Data used to estimate effects of different light types and light levels on organismal physiology, behaviour, and community/population

### **File description**

`Data_S1_Czarnecka_et_al..xlsx`: file contains data used to estimate effects of different light types and light levels on organismal physiology, behaviour, and community/population with calculated effect sizes (Hedges g).

### **Description of the columns:**

**Study, ID –** identification number of the study

**Authors** – authors of the source publication

**Title, Publication.year,**  - title of the source publication and year of publishing

**Source, DOI** - journal name of the source publication and DOI

**Study.type** - study type: field or laboratory

**Habitat** – study habitat

**Phylum, Class, Orde...,