JFA prepare Biodiversity Strategies to Guide Design process at Kent and Sussex sites.
Bat Trapping Surveys Underway at Kent Sites. JFA Preparing Scoping information for EIA’s across UK. JFA carries out Landscape Visual Assessments to support Planning Applications.
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Photo-receptors in plants use light sources to determine season and time of day in order to control germination, shade avoidance and growth. The latter of which relies on darkness to grow, repair and recover from environmental stresses.
So what does all of this mean for the wider associated ecology? If roadside vegetation is subjected to constant periods of artificial light with few periods of darkness, changes within plant development can cause the affected plant to produce up to 25% fewer flower heads and initiate early onset of bud burst. This would create fewer feeding opportunities for pollinators which could reduce pollinator numbers and create miss-matches in egg hatching with the disruption of bud-burst in pollinator host trees. This in turn could lead to a decline in predators that feed on the pollinators, such as the bat in the UK, which would have a knock-on effect in genetic plant loss as the long-range gene-flow is disrupted. As streetlights can act as a barrier to natural processes here at JFA we recommend in most of our projects that developers install low-wattage baffle lighting with security lights on timers. This will not only provide plants with crucial periods of darkness critical for plant growth and repair, but will also benefit those species relying on plant pollen and their associated pollinators. |
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