Impacts of Artificial Lighting at Night on Urban Birds in Shanghai With Citizen Science Data

Highlights

	● Artificial light at night may affect urban birds in distribution, and observed bird number varies as illumination radiance increases, revealing three patterns across species: decreasing, multimodal, and balanced
	● Investigated birds generally preferred lower light irradiance, while a few species can adapt to higher light irradiance
	● Citizen science data are characterized by larger sample size and wider spatio-temporal coverage and can complement systematic bird surveys

Abstract

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an essential infrastructure to support nighttime functions while serving as a significant indicator for urban vitality and economic development. However, the increasing prevalence of artificial lighting in urban areas threatens the health of urban residents of all kinds. Citizen science data are characterized by large sample size and complete spatio-temporal coverage, which have promising application prospects in ecological investigation and related research. In this context, focusing on Shanghai as the study area, this research explores the impact of nighttime light intensity on the distribution of urban birds. Using birding data from China Bird Report, from 2017 to 2023, ten common bird species were selected for the analysis. Based on ALAN remote sensing data, observed bird number varies as illumination radiance increases, revealing three patterns across species: decreasing, multimodal, and balanced. Specifically, most bird species were observed distributed in the lower light irradiance interval, i.e., 0 ~ 0.15 nW/(cm²·sr), while a few species, such as Nycticorax nycticorax and Passer montanus, exhibited an aggregation in higher light irradiance intervals at 75 nW/(cm²·sr) or above. The study revealed a preliminary correlation of the light irradiance and the distribution of urban bird species with a threshold of light irradiation for bird preference, providing evidences and strategic guidelines to reduce light pollution and improve bird-friendly nighttime environment in cities.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Urban Birds / Artificial Light at Night / Bird Distribution / Light Irradiance / Light Pollution / Citizen Science Data

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Acknowledgements

Project of "Key Technology and Equipment for Urban Light Pollution Control for Human Habitat Health: Research and Implementations, " Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (No. 22dz1202400)

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