Are owls nocturnal creatures11/23/2023 Prolonged exposure to bright lights affects their hormones, skin coloration, thermoregulation, and reproduction. Artificial light interferes with amphibians, who detect light levels 100x dimmer than humans.Check out this video of young volunteers at Gulf Island National Seashore helping hatchlings on their journey to the sea. For baby sea turtles born on brightly lit beaches in developed coastal areas such as Florida, this can bring dire consequences: Instead of heading toward waves sparkling with moonlight, the turtles are often drawn toward brightly lit roads and parking lots, where they quickly die. After birth, they orient toward the brightest light on the beach. Sea turtle hatchlings rely on the moon and starlight reflecting off the ocean at night to direct them to the safety of the water.Lights from nearby cities, towers, and other facilities disorient their migration and veer them off course, which cause them to slam into surfaces or circle endlessly, wasting crucial energy. Hundreds of bird species use stars to navigate at night.Highways, habitat and skies lit with artificial light interfere with the vision, foraging, and dispersal activities of many mammals.Research into the ecological consequences of artificial night lighting is revealing numerous connections between light pollution and disruption to myriad species in almost all taxa. Light pollution is human caused light that alters natural light levels in the outdoor environment. One way we do this is to reduce light pollution in parks. It preserves wilderness qualities that animals depend on for survival. Animals such as cats, owls, and rodents have developed keen hearing, smell, and dark-adapted vision in order to navigate at night.īy protecting night skies, the NPS protects more than pretty views of the stars. Others need the night to hunt, mate, or avoid predators. Many species on Earth are nocturnal: Some come out at night to escape the heat of the day. Many living things need and have evolved to adapt to darkness. This spring, we reflect on Earth at night, and some of the reasons the NPS protects night skies. Naturally dark night skies have a big role to play in supporting wildlife and park ecosystems. Photo Credit: Ralph Arwood / all rights reserved Framed by saw palmetto vegetation in its natural habitat at Big Cypress National Park, a Florida panther walks toward the camera in this night view of the elusive cat.
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