KEVIN J GASTON

Pettorelli, N., Benton, T., Williams, J., Anderson, K., McKinnon, C., Gaston, K.J., Hails, R.S., Stringer, L.C., Fish, R., Vickery, J., Norris, K. & Bridgewater, P. Bringing biodiversity into Solar Radiation Modification discussions. A report from Scientists for Biodiversity, U.K.

The world stands at a critcal crossroads in its response to a rapidly escalating environmental crisis. Climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and increasing pressures on natural resources are creating growing urgency to act. In this context, there is a strong temptation to look for novel interventions that promise quick and scalable results. One set of interventions that is being increasingly discussed as a potential response to global heating is Solar Radiation Modification (SRM). This report is not a comprehensive technical assessment of SRM. Instead, it sets out why biodiversity and ecosystem service risks must become central to United Kingdom (UK) and international SRM research, assessment and governance. SRM cannot be assessed only through climate and technical lenses because the assessment of the potential impacts on ecosystems is fundamental to any responsible evaluation of planetary-scale intervention.

Briolat, E.S., Galloway, J.A.M., Cornelius, E., Wright, C.J., Bennie, J., Gaston, K.J. & Troscianko, J. 2026. Severe and widespread reductions in nighttime activity of nocturnal moths under modern artificial lighting spectra. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 293, 20252704.

Artificial lighting has many negative impacts on nocturnal insects, from harmful phototaxis to disruption of feeding and reproduction. Although comparatively poorly explored, many detrimental outcomes could be associated with changes in activity. We investigated the effects of different types of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting on activity in multiple wild-caught moth species in three different families. While behaviour under natural conditions varied among species, artificial lighting strongly and largely consistently suppressed activity. In our main experiment, testing 843 moths of 23 species, we found that white LEDs at 10 lx illuminance depressed activity by 85% on average relative to natural night-time illumination, and even purportedly less harmful amber lighting had similar impacts at the same intensity. There were no differences between the effects of broad-spectrum LEDs and combinations of narrowband LEDs that produce equivalent light for human vision. Collection methods, using light traps or hand-catching with nets, did affect activity in some species, with implications for future research. Finally, further experiments found significant activity suppression overall under lighting at 1 lx, for white LEDs especially, with some species affected even by skyglow levels of white light. Substantial inhibition of activity under multiple streetlight-relevant LEDs suggests potential for widespread impacts on moth populations.

Akçakaya, H.R., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Hoffmann, M., Regan, H.M., Naujokaitis-Lewis, I., Punt, A.E., Gaston, K.J., Keith, D.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Stuart, S.S., Collar, N.J., Di Marco, M., Böhm, M., Berryman, A.J., Mallon, D., Hochkirch, A., Dulvy, N.K., Rivers, M., Brooks, T., Westrip, J.R.S., Rodríguez, J.P., Hilton-Taylor, C., Scott, J., Tarr, S., Ledger, S.E.H. & Linardich, C. 2026. Three decades of classifying threatened species: Lessons learned from and about the IUCN Red List Criteria for quantifying extinction risk. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 293, 20260316.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the most widely used global system for assessing species’ extinction risk, has become a foundational source of information for conservation management, policy and research. Since the adoption of quantitative extinction risk criteria more than three decades ago, the Red List has expanded substantially in scope and influence, informing decisions ranging from species conservation and protected area designation to international agreements, corporate risk assessments and global biodiversity indicators. Given its central role, maintaining scientific rigour, transparency and trust in the Red List system is essential. Feedback from users, emerging from evolving applications and scientific advances, has shaped the Red List throughout. At the same time, the Red List has been subject to recurring critiques, some of which stem from persistent misconceptions about its purpose, design and appropriate use. To address these, we review the history and development of the Red List system, clarify the strengths of its design, delineate the contexts for which the system was and was not intended, and elucidate the circumstances under which it may be modified. Finally, we outline pathways for researchers and users to contribute to ongoing improvements and discuss potential future directions for evolution of the Red List.

Cai, J., Bennie, J. & Gaston, K.J. 2026. Brightened nights, altered earth: artificial light reshapes activity rhythms in an earthworm and soil processes. Biological Conservation 313, 111616.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a global environmental disruptor, impacting natural dark-light cycles, with effects reported on the activity rhythms of diverse taxonomic groups and some associated ecosystem processes. Yet, impacts on soil-dwelling animals that are nocturnally active aboveground remain understudied. Here, we experimentally exposed the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. to ALAN (20 lx) in a glasshouse to see whether and how this would affect surface activity during nighttime and crepuscular periods (sunset + sunrise), and consequently soil processes, compared to the naturally lit condition. We recorded overall surface activity of L. terrestris, and three finer categories: pre-surfacing activity, foraging, and over-surface exploration. During nighttime, ALAN reduced foraging and over-surface exploration in L. terrestris by 40.8 % and 65.9 %, but increased pre-surfacing activity by 137.7 %. In comparison, crepuscular surface activity generally increased, with foraging even surging up to 347.8 % at sunset. Whereas there was no detectable change in soil respiration, these ALAN-driven activity disruptions were accompanied by measurable changes in other soil processes: increased transport of surface litter into upper soil layers (+112.4 %) alongside reduced litter consumption (-32.3 %) and redistribution of soil aggregates across soil profiles. Our results also indicated signs of light adaptation in L. terrestris. Overall, our findings suggest that whilst long-term monitoring of ALAN capacity to alter rhythms of activity of this keystone ecosystem engineer and ecological consequences is necessary, the pronounced shifts in the short term nonetheless warrant immediate attention and should inform conservation strategies to preserve soil biodiversity and functionality in a rapidly urbanising world. 

Morrell, S., Hatchell, J., Wordingham, F., Bennie, J., Inston, M.J., Shannon, J.P., Rayner, C.W. & Gaston, K.J. 2026. Mitigating the environmental and ecological impacts of evolving city-scale streetlighting installations. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 23, 20250453.

Artificial light at night (ALAN), from streetlights and other sources, is ubiquitous across modern towns and cities and has wide-ranging impacts upon the natural environment. The extent, spectra and timing of light influence the physiology, behaviour and fitness of individuals of many species, shape the structure of ecological communities and the functioning of ecosystems. To date, however, it has been challenging to characterize this lighting at sufficiently fine spatial resolutions across city-wide extents. Here, we apply a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model to simulate in three dimensions the light environment resulting from emission from streetlights using the city of Exeter, UK, as an exemplar. We show that this technique can model the evolving lighting landscape of modern cities at scales, and through observables, suitable for both ecological studies and lighting professionals. We estimate measures of melatonin suppression, induced photosynthesis and phytochrome photostationary state from our models, probing how the transition towards light-emitting diode street lighting impacts physiological processes in plants and animals throughout the city. Our simulations illustrate that although the area lit by ALAN is decreasing overall at metre scales, which is lit is becoming more hostile towards many organisms.

Soga, M. & Gaston, K.J. 2026. Breaking the intergenerational cycle of extinction of experience: actions needed and pathways forward. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 4, e7.

To halt and reverse the ongoing biodiversity crisis, substantial changes in human behaviour will be required. One important challenge in achieving such changes is the ‘extinction of experience’ – the progressive loss of direct human interactions with nature (hereafter ‘personalised ecologies’). Diminished personalised ecologies can erode emotional ties to nature, weaken pro-conservation attitudes and reduce engagement in the diverse actions needed to support biodiversity. Although the extent of this decline has increasingly been documented, far less attention has been paid to the processes throughwhich it unfolds over time, particularly across generations. In this Perspective, we examine how the extinction of experience may become entrenched within societies. We propose a conceptual framework, drawing on ideas from behavioural genetics, to explore how personalised ecologies could be transmitted across generations through genetic, environmental and interactive pathways. We then use this framework to consider why, once initiated, the extinction of experience may persist and intensify over time. Finally, we outline potential strategies to help disrupt this cycle of disconnection and to foster more positive, self-reinforcing trajectories of human–nature interactions. Achieving this will likely require coordinated efforts across sectors, including conservation organisations, education systems, urban planning and public health initiatives.