The artificial night light in urban environments can be extending, up to three weeks, the plant growth station compared to rural areas, which means an appearance of the earliest outbreaks in spring and a later coloration of the leaves in autumn.
A team headed by Chinese researchers publish in Nature Cities a study with satellite data, over seven years, of 428 cities of the northern hemisphere, including New York, Paris, Toronto and Beijing.
The rapid urbanization causes cities to be hotter, due to buildings and concrete that absorb and radiate heat, and also more luminous at night, the amount of night artificial light increased by 10% on average in the last decade. Both factors regulate, to a large extent, plants growth periods.
The study indicates that artificial night lighting “increases exponentially towards urban centers and exerts a greater influence than air temperature in the prolongation of the urban vegetative period, especially delaying its end, although the effects vary according to climatic zones.”
In addition, it suggests that the effect of artificial night light at the growth station can be further complicated by the recent general change of high pressure sodium lamps to LED lighting, to which plants can be more receptive, although more research on that aspect is needed.
The team, also formed by American and German researchers, compiled data on the artificial night light, the air temperature near the surface and the growth stations of the plants.
The effect of artificial light is especially pronounced at the end of the vegetative period compared to its influence at the beginning.
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Specifically, the beginning of the growth station advances an average of 12.6 days with respect to the rural environment and the end is delayed 11.2 days in the analyzed cities.
These general guidelines coincide in all cities of the northern hemisphere, although there are differences between continents, depending on climatic zones.
Thus, the start of the station is earlier in Europe, then in Asia and then in North America, although the cities in that last area are more light
The effect of night lights is higher at the beginning of the season in some climatic zones, including tempered climates with dry summers and cold climates without dry season, while the effect at the end of the growth season was more constant in all cities.
The earliest and the latest senescence of the leaves caused by artificial night light can increase the risk of frost damage in early spring and autumn end, disturb the interactions between plants and pollinators and cause the earliest appearance of pollen allergy symptoms, the researchers write in the article.
With the increase in urbanization and climate change, it is “imperative to apply sustainable lighting solutions” that better protect trees and their associated communities through effective conservation measures, ultimately promoting resistant and healthy urban ecosystems.
With EFE information
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