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Harvard Forest Research Project 2023
- Title: Artificial light as driver and surveyor of moth declines
- Principal investigator: Avalon Owens (aowens@rowland.harvard.edu)
- Institution: Harvard University
- Primary contact: Avalon Owens (aowens@rowland.harvard.edu)
- Team members: Wei-Ping Chan
- Abstract:
Recent reports of precipitous declines in the abundance of insects across habitats have alarmed researchers, policymakers, and the public alike. The eerie absence of moths to be seen swirling under streetlights, trapped in car headlights, or plastered against lit windows raises concerns that habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change are upending the foundations of global food webs. But what if the moths are still there... just not at the lights? Insects that fly to light often die, while those that survive lose vital opportunities to forage or reproduce. The immense number of artificial lights on earth could be acting as a powerful evolutionary pressure — one that, in certain habitats, will have been selecting against moth flight-to-light behavior for hundreds of generations already. I propose to pair historical data with modern methods in the fields of conservation genomics and behavioral evolution to evaluate the outcome of this pressure. By comparing the effective population sizes and phototactic responses of historical, urban, and rural representatives of classically light-attracted moth species, I will reveal the extent to which moths have lost their attraction to artificial light over time. This research could transform our understanding of insect declines, much of which relies on long-term data from entomological light traps.
