Shedding light with harmonic radar: Unveiling the hidden impacts of streetlights on moth flight behavior

One of the most dramatic changes occurring on our planet is the ever-increasing extensive use of artificial light at night, which drastically altered the environment to which nocturnal animals are adapted. Such light pollution has been identified as a driver in the dramatic insect decline of the past years. One nocturnal species group experiencing marked declines is moths, which play a key role in food webs and ecosystem services such as plant pollination. Moths can be easily monitored within the illuminated area of a streetlight, where they typically exhibit disoriented behavior. Yet, little is known about their behavior beyond the illuminated area. Harmonic radar tracking enabled us to close this knowledge gap. We found a significant change in flight behavior beyond the illuminated area of a streetlight. A detailed analysis of the recorded trajectories revealed a barrier effect of streetlights on lappet moths whenever the moon was not available as a natural celestial cue. Furthermore,..., Description of methods used for collection/generation of data:
Moth males of different species were released individually in the center of six circularly arranged high-pressure sodium streetlights (radius: 85 m).
A similar number of individuals was tested each day with the streetlights either turned on or off to compensate for daily fluctuations in weather and ambient light conditions.
A harmonic radar (Raytheon Marine GmbH, Kiel, NSC 2525/7 XU) was used to track the flight paths of individual moths.
All-sky photometry was used to measure spatially resolved sky brightness utilizing a commercial digital single-lens reflex camera (Canon EOS 6D) with a full-frame CMOS sensor (20.2 Megapixel) operating with a 180° circular fisheye lens (Sigma 8 mm f/3.5 EX DG).
Methods for processing the data:
The CR2 images retrieved by all-sky photometry were processed with the software “Sky Quality Camera” to get luminance values for each pixel.
Standards and calibration information: We used a calibrated..., , # Data from: Shedding light with harmonic radar: Unveiling the hidden impacts of streetlights on moth flight behavior

This file was generated on 2024-09-03 by Jacqueline Degen

## GENERAL INFORMATION

Date of data collection: from 2018-06-10 until 2018-07-29

Geographic location of data collection: 50°48'50.3\"N, 8°52'32.7\"E

## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

Data_Manuscript_Shedding_light_with_harmonic_radar.xlsx: Dataset for analysis and figures

### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Data\_Manuscript\_Shedding\_light\_with\_harmonic\_radar

#### Worksheet 1 - Positions:

* XY coordinates of the release site and the six streetlights.

#### Worksheet 2 - Data:

Number of variables: 10

Number of cases/rows: 2636

Variable List:

* Waypoint: Number of the recorded radar signals within each flight.
* Flight: Number of the recorded flight.
* Animal_ID: Identification number of the moth.
* Species: Species of the moth.
* X: X coordinate of the recorded radar signal.
* Y: Y coordinate of the recorde...