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ALAN Conference Series

ALAN 6 will take place from 16-18.06.2020 in Lleida, Spain.

Night Sky Data to the People!

A new website presents citizen science data

Touring Exhibition

Our touring exhibition with 15 posters can be borrowed for events!

'Loss of the Night' App

The 'Loss of the Night' app measures sky brightness! Take part in a world-wide citizen science project that measures star visibility and light pollution. The app is free!

City Night Time Lapse

This growing collection of time lapse videos of nights in urban centres provides insights how city lights change throughout the course of the night

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SP10: Evolutionary and ecological consequences of artificial light for mosquitoes and midges


On warm summer nights one can often see midges dancing in swarms and hear the solitary buzz of a mosquito, and if your window is open, they will come inside and join you. Every one of us has seen numerous insects buzzing around lamp posts, but is the same really true for these midges and mosquitoes? They play an important role in freshwater ecosystems and some species are human and animal pests, but are they attracted or maybe even repelled by artificial light (ALAN)? Does the kind of light matter? Are there species- and/ or sex-specific differences? Or could the presence of light during the night even have an effect on what these insects eat or bite? 

Within subproject 10 the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) aimed to answer at least some of these questions. Short-term effects of artificial light at night may include changes in dispersal, food sources, and reproductive success, whereas long-term effects could include changes in the genetic architecture of the population and favour some genotypes over others. The latter was studied on urban mosquito populations. Furthermore, field studies were conducted to measure the impact of ALAN on ecosystems.

Our work contributes to both integrative projects (SP14) by conducting experiments in both urban and rural areas to assess the influence of artificial light at night on these organisms. To obtain as much information as possible we collaborate with the Technical University (TU) Berlin, the Leibniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

Scientist is Ann-Christin Honnen
Leader of subproject is Dr. Michael Monaghan

Find links to the most important publications at our site Literature & Links.