Streetlights, leaves, and insects. Why would there possibly be something that ties the three together? Well, apparently, there is.

I was speaking with a friend this week who told me about a recent discovery about the effects of leaves and insexts due to streetlights that you find in urban settings.

According to the website Courthouse News Service, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found that artificial light at night causes leaves to become tougher than what you might find in a rural setting, where there is no light such as a street light.

With that, it makes it harder for insects to eat the leaves. Scientists studied two types of trees in the City of Beijing - Japanese pagoda and green ash trees, on streets that were well-lit in the evening and overnight hours.

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The website Scimex notes that in the study, "scientists suspected that plants experiencing high levels of artificial light would focus on defense rather than growth, producing tougher leaves with more chemical defense compounds."

For humans, less leaf damage may sound like a good thing, but for insects having a tough time chewing through these thicker leaves, it's not a good thing.

Even though the study found these results on two types of trees in one city, there is not enough evidence to support the theory that it's happening elsewhere in the world. The Scimex website article notes that this type of research is still in its infancy.

It will be interesting to see what further studies show in the future, and what, if any negative impact could result.

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