理解并管理生态光污染

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is among the fastest growing yet least regulated forms of global environmental change, disrupting biological processes from genes to ecosystems and contributing to global biodiversity loss. In this Review, we assess current understanding of ecological light pollution and outline priorities and essential actions for effective management. Although measurement approaches and mechanistic understanding have advanced, critical gaps persist in standardization, predictive capacity across taxa and ecosystems, and understanding of adaptive responses and multi-stressor interactions. Evidence is also constrained by short-term study durations and limited understanding of indirect and cascading effects across ecological networks. Crucially, ecological evidence remains weakly embedded in lighting regulation and spatial planning, creating a widening gap between scientific knowledge and biodiversity protection. Based on accumulated evidence, we organize mitigation strategies into a hierarchical framework, prioritizing by effectiveness — elimination, spatial and temporal controls, and spectral tuning. We identify six priorities to address persistent knowledge gaps and advance implementation: formalizing measurement protocols, developing predictive frameworks based on functional traits and species interactions, establishing long-term evolutionary and multi-stressor monitoring networks, and embedding evidence-based mitigation in legally binding instruments. Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a substantial, growing and largely unregulated threat to biodiversity worldwide. In this Review, Dickerson et al. examine the state of knowledge regarding the measurement, impacts and mitigation of ALAN, and outline priorities for future ALAN research and policy development to protect biodiversity.