Data from: Artificial night lighting inhibits feeding in moths

One major, yet poorly studied, change in the environment is nocturnal light pollution, which strongly alters habitats of nocturnally active species. Artificial night lighting is often considered as driving force behind rapid moth population declines in severely illuminated countries. To understand these declines, the question remains whether artificial light causes only increased mortality or also sublethal effects. We show that moths subjected to artificial night lighting spend less time feeding than moths in darkness, with the shortest time under light conditions rich in short wavelength radiation. These findings provide evidence for sublethal effects contributing to moth population declines. Because effects are strong under various types of light compared with dark conditions, the potential of spectral alterations as a conservation tool may be overestimated. Therefore, restoration and maintenance of darkness in illuminated areas is essential for reversing declines of moth populations.环境中一项重要却鲜有研究的变化是夜间光污染（nocturnal light pollution），其会显著改变夜行性物种的栖息环境。在人工照明强度较高的国家，夜间人工照明常被视作蛾类种群快速衰退的驱动因素。为厘清这类种群衰退的成因，目前仍有待解答的核心问题是：人工光照是否仅会增加蛾类的死亡率，抑或还会引发亚致死效应（sublethal effects）？本研究表明，相较于处于黑暗环境中的蛾类，暴露于夜间人工照明下的个体取食时长更短；而在短波辐射占比高的光照条件下，蛾类的取食时长最短。上述研究结果为亚致死效应促成蛾类种群衰退提供了实证支撑。由于相较于黑暗环境，各类光照条件下均会产生显著效应，因此将光谱调整作为物种保护手段的潜力可能被高估了。故此，恢复并维持受人工照明区域的黑暗环境，对于扭转蛾类种群衰退的趋势至关重要。