Nocturnal Animals

Seventy percent of mammals are nocturnal, and many of those species are in decline because of light pollution. Nocturnal animals depend on Earth’s daily rhythms to govern their behaviors. Their survival relies on the right behaviors at the right times, but light pollution radically disrupts the nighttime environment and interferes with life-giving processes.

FIREFLIES

Artificial lights play a significant role in firefly habitat loss. They rely on bioluminescence to find and attract mates, and lights interfere with the ability to distinguish courtship flash patterns, reducing reproduction.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

The Monarch is the only butterfly that makes a two-way migration. Continuous exposure to artificial light disrupts their sophisticated navigation system, causing them to become disoriented.

BATS

Rainforest bats help re-seed the forests, while the Southwest’s Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (listed as a vulnerable species due to light pollution) provides pollination to saguaros and agaves. Light pollution disrupts their breeding and feeding, and insufficient pollination of blue agave leads to a supply chain issue with tequila.

SEA TURTLES

Artificial lighting reduces the nesting success of loggerhead sea turtles by 20%, and hatchlings perish when they get disoriented and can’t find their way to the sea.

NOCTURNAL POLLINATORS

Light pollution is the number one threat to nocturnal pollinators, including hundreds of moth species, who ensure our plants keep producing food. A single light can reduce pollination in the area by 62% each night.

OTHERS ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY LIGHT POLLUTION

Frogs & toads

Hummingbirds

Zebrafish

Sweat Bees

Seabirds

Atlantic salmon

Zooplankton

Owls

Mice

Beetles