Sign In
Learn bits
Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

18/08/24 11:24 AM IST

All-night streetlights can make leaves inedible to insects

In News
  • Artificial lights that run all night, such as streetlights, can make leaves grow so tough that insects cannot eat them, which could threaten urban food chains, according to a new study.
Major findings
  • The researchers wanted to examine how artificial lights impact the relationship between plants and insects.
  • To do so, they focused on two common species of street tree in Beijing: Japanese pagoda and green ash trees.
  • Although these trees are similar in many ways, Japanese pagoda trees have smaller, softer leaves which insects prefer to munch on.
  • The researchers picked 30 sampling sites on main roads that are usually lit by streetlights all night.
  • They then measured illuminance — the amount of light — at each site and collected around 5,500 leaves to evaluate the impact of light on their traits such as size, toughness, water content, and levels of nutrients and chemical defence compounds.
  • If the leaves were larger, it would mean that plants directed their resources (such as nutrients, water, and energy) to growth.
  • If the leaves were tougher and contained high levels of chemical defence compounds like tannins, it would indicate that the resources were allocated for defence
  • The researchers observed that for both species of trees, the higher the levels of illuminance, the tougher the leaves.
  • The tougher the leaves, the less evidence of insects eating them.
  • The researchers found no sign of insects munching on leaves in areas which were lit the brightest at night.
  • This could be a bad sign for the ecosystem.
  •  Lower levels of herbivory imply lower abundances of herbivorous insects, which could in turn result in lower abundances of predatory insects, insect-eating birds, and so on.
  • The decline of insects is a global pattern observed over recent decades.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

19 Sep

Cabinet clears development of Next Generation of satellite Launch Vehicle

'The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV).' The NGLV is set to significantly enhance Ind

Read More

19 Sep

Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan

'The Union Cabinet recently approved a package that will provide up to ?5 lakh each to tribal households and villages across the country.' The new package also aims to give an i

Read More

19 Sep

‘Bio-RIDE’ scheme

'The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved continuation of the two umbrella schemes of Department of Biotechnology (DBT),' Merged as

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps