Abstract: Light pollution is increasing worldwide and significantly affects animal behavior. In birds, these effects include advancement of morning activity and onset of dawn song, which may affect extra-pair paternity. Advanced dawn song of males may stimulate females to engage in extra-pair copulations, and the earlier activity onset may affect the males' mate guarding behavior. Earlier work showed an effect of light at night on extra-pair behavior, but this was in an area with other anthropogenic disturbances. Here, we present a two-year experimental study on effects of light at night on extra-pair paternity of great tits (Parus major). Previously dark natural areas were illuminated with white, red, and green LED lamps and compared to a dark control. In 2014, the proportion of extra-pair young in broods increased with distance to the red and white lamps (i.e., at lower light intensities), but decreased with distance to the poles in the dark control. In 2013, we found no effects on the proportion of extra-pair young. The total number of offspring sired by a male was unaffected by artificial light at night in both years, suggesting that potential changes in female fidelity in pairs breeding close to white and red light did not translate into fitness benefits for the males of these pairs. Artificial light at night might disrupt the natural patterns of extra-pair paternity, possibly negates potential benefits of extra-pair copulations and thus could alter sexual selection processes in wild birds.

Abstract: The scotopic/photopic ratio (S/P) is a parameter that may be considered in the design of road lighting. This paper compares the S/P ratio and correlated colour temperature (CCT) for 297 light source spectra identified in IES Technical Memorandum TM-30-15 to test the assumption that higher S/P ratios demand higher CCTs. The results suggest that, for a given lamp type, there is a strong association between S/P ratio and CCT, and hence that for a given CCT only a small variation in S/P ratio is available. However, the results also suggest that a larger variation in S/P ratio is possible if the lighting designer is able to consider a change in lamp type.

Abstract: Hurricane Matthew (28 Sep – 9 October 2016) was perhaps the most infamous storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, claiming over 600 lives and causing over $15 billion USD in damages across the central Caribbean and southeastern U.S. seaboard. Research surrounding Matthew and its many noteworthy meteorological characteristics (e.g., rapid intensification into the southernmost Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin on record, strong lightning and sprite production, and unusual cloud morphology) is ongoing. Satellite remote sensing typically plays an important role in the forecasting and study of hurricanes, providing a top-down perspective on storms developing over the remote and inherently data sparse tropical oceans. In this regard, a relative newcomer among the suite of satellite observations useful for tropical cyclone monitoring and research is the Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB), a sensor flying onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite. Unlike conventional instruments, the DNB's sensitivity to extremely low levels of visible/near-infrared light offers new insight on storm properties and impacts. Here, we chronicle Matthew’s path of destruction and peer through the DNB’s looking glass of low-light visible observations, including lightning connected to sprite formation, modulation of the atmospheric nightglow by storm-generated gravity waves, and widespread power outages. Collected without moonlight, these examples showcase the wealth of unique information present in DNB nocturnal low-light observations without moonlight, and their potential to complement traditional satellite measurements of tropical storms worldwide.