{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T18:11:00Z","timestamp":1778609460204,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006732","name":"New York University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["DURF (Dean\u2019s Undergraduate Research Fund)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DURF (Dean\u2019s Undergraduate Research Fund)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006732","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006732","name":"New York University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["DURF (Dean\u2019s Undergraduate Research Fund)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DURF (Dean\u2019s Undergraduate Research Fund)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006732","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Moths (Lepidoptera) are sensitive to anthropogenic threats and serve as valuable bioindicators. Despite the remarkable diversity and abundance of Lepidoptera globally, there is a lack of information on how moth species are impacted by urbanization. Notably, very little is known about moths in the most populus city of the United States, New York City, where pervasive urban pollutants, artificial light at night, land cover change, and habitat fragmentation are severe. We examined the effects of urbanization on moth biodiversity in New York City, with a focus on green spaces. We used citizen science records from\n                    <jats:italic>iNaturalist<\/jats:italic>\n                    and complemented these data with ground sampling at twelve locations across six parks at night. While the\n                    <jats:italic>iNaturalist<\/jats:italic>\n                    dataset is comprehensive both spatially and temporally, it failed to detect some species we observed on the ground. However, the scope of the field survey dataset is limited in geographical breadth and seasonal coverage. Overall, we found a negative relationship between greater urbanization and moth diversity, with community similarity related to environmental similarity. Our results found greater biodiversity with less light at night and less urban development, and more deciduous tree cover and more open land. Our structural equation model reveals additional insight: although we detected a strong direct negative effect of developed land on moth diversity, urbanization also negatively impacts diversity via indirect effects of reducing open space and deciduous tree cover. Developed open space alone does not directly affect diversity but may positively impact diversity through its covariance with vegetation cover. These findings support the importance of mitigating artificial light at night in urban green spaces and maintaining urban vegetation to ensure nocturnal Lepidoptera can persist in rapidly urbanizing landscapes.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0342856","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T17:37:53Z","timestamp":1778607473000},"page":"e0342856","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From concrete to canopy: Illuminating moth biodiversity in New York City\u2019s urban jungle"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-6974-5514","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Shira","family":"Linsk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Thonis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5217-4809","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kristin M.","family":"Winchell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biocon.2005.09.005","article-title":"Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization","volume":"127","author":"ML McKinney","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biol Conserv"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1196","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.14934","article-title":"Urbanization drives cross-taxon declines in abundance and diversity at multiple spatial scales","volume":"26","author":"E Piano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Glob Chang Biol"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0342856.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0185809","article-title":"More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas","volume":"12","author":"CA Hallmann","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165967","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2023.165967","article-title":"Global meta-analysis of urbanization stressors on insect abundance, richness, and traits","volume":"903","author":"S Vaz","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sci Total Environ"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1007\/s10980-010-9537-3","article-title":"Landscape variables impact the structure and composition of butterfly assemblages along an urbanization gradient","volume":"26","author":"B Bergerot","year":"2011","journal-title":"Landsc Ecol"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0342856.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1007\/s11252-005-6835-7","article-title":"Lepidoptera-habitat relationships in urban parks","volume":"7","author":"WM Giuliano","year":"2004","journal-title":"Urban Ecosyst"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1007\/s11252-015-0501-5","article-title":"Nested patterns in urban butterfly species assemblages: respective roles of plot management, park layout and landscape features","volume":"19","author":"M-H Lizee","year":"2015","journal-title":"Urban Ecosyst"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1007\/s11252-016-0579-4","article-title":"Butterflies in the city: a review of urban diurnal Lepidoptera","volume":"20","author":"L Ram\u00edrez-Restrepo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Urban Ecosyst"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0342856.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"757","DOI":"10.1111\/een.13041","article-title":"Urbanisation drivers and underlying mechanisms of terrestrial insect diversity loss in cities","volume":"46","author":"MS Fenoglio","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecol Entomol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0342856.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1111\/icad.12713","article-title":"Disentangling how urbanisation influences moth diversity in grasslands","volume":"17","author":"D Sanetra","year":"2024","journal-title":"Insect Conserv Divers"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.en.23.010178.002055","article-title":"Ecology of insects in urban environments","volume":"23","author":"GW Frankie","year":"1978","journal-title":"Annu Rev Entomol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8735","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-58909-8","article-title":"Urban greening with shrubs can supercharge invertebrate abundance and diversity","volume":"14","author":"M Sharmin","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-49255-6_8","article-title":"Urban insect communities in the Neotropics: a systematic literature review and a green path to promote biodiversity conservation.","volume-title":"Insect Decline and Conservation in the Neotropics","author":"MS Fenoglio","year":"2024"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-14496-6","article-title":"Urban areas as hotspots for bees and pollination but not a panacea for all insects","volume":"11","author":"P Theodorou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0342856.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"981","DOI":"10.1007\/s10531-017-1476-8","article-title":"Spider communities in urban green patches and their relation to local and landscape traits","volume":"27","author":"CI Arga\u00f1araz","year":"2018","journal-title":"Biodivers Conserv"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1752-4598.2012.00186.x","article-title":"The decline of moths in Great Britain: a review of possible causes","volume":"6","author":"R Fox","year":"2012","journal-title":"Insect Conserv Divers"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0281810","article-title":"Marvellous moths! Pollen deposition rate of bramble (Rubus futicosus L. agg.) is greater at night than day","volume":"18","author":"M Anderson","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"14","key":"pone.0342856.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2007.06.051","article-title":"Raising moth awareness","volume":"17","author":"N Williams","year":"2007","journal-title":"Curr Biol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.17241","article-title":"Substantial urbanization-driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment","volume":"30","author":"MW Belitz","year":"2024","journal-title":"Glob Chang Biol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0342856.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1111\/icad.12447","article-title":"Is light pollution driving moth population declines? A review of causal mechanisms across the life cycle","volume":"14","author":"DH Boyes","year":"2021","journal-title":"Insect Conserv Divers"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0342856.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1629","DOI":"10.1111\/ele.14277","article-title":"The effects of urbanization on pollinators and pollination: A meta-analysis","volume":"26","author":"H Liang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ecol Lett"},{"issue":"1928","key":"pone.0342856.ref022","first-page":"20193014","article-title":"Urban moth communities suggest that life in the city favours thermophilic multi-dimensional generalists","volume":"287","author":"M Franz\u00e9n","year":"2020","journal-title":"Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0342856.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3837","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.14151","article-title":"Increased body size along urbanization gradients at both community and intraspecific level in macro-moths","volume":"24","author":"T Merckx","year":"2018","journal-title":"Glob Chang Biol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1038\/hdy.1955.36","article-title":"Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera","volume":"9","author":"HB Kettlewell","year":"1955","journal-title":"Heredity"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1038\/hdy.1956.28","article-title":"Further selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera","volume":"10","author":"HBD Kettlewell","year":"1956","journal-title":"Heredity"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1006576518561","article-title":"Retelling experiments: HBD Kettlewell\u2019s studies of industrial melanism in peppered moths","volume":"14","author":"JB Hagen","year":"1999","journal-title":"Biol Philos"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref027","author":"A Dar","year":"2021"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"503","DOI":"10.1007\/s11284-007-0406-8","article-title":"Diversity and composition of larger moths in three different forest types of southern Korea","volume":"23","author":"SW Choi","year":"2008","journal-title":"Ecol Res"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1007\/s10841-021-00308-9","article-title":"Drastic loss of insects (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in urban landscapes in a tropical biodiversity hotspot","volume":"25","author":"FP Gaona","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Insect Conserv"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref030","volume-title":"Butterflies and moths","author":"DJ Carter","year":"1992"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.11646\/zootaxa.1668.1.30","article-title":"Lepidoptera phylogeny and systematics: the state of inventorying moth and butterfly diversity","volume":"1668","author":"NP Kristensen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Zootaxa"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref032","author":"QGIS Development Team"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref033","author":"GIS DCP","year":"2025"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref034","author":"C Hamilton","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref035","author":"J Dewitz","year":"2023","journal-title":"Available from"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0342856.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1111\/icad.12068","article-title":"Macro\u2010moth families differ in their attraction to light: implications for light\u2010trap monitoring programmes","volume":"7","author":"T Merckx","year":"2014","journal-title":"Insect Conserv Diversity"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref037","first-page":"964","author":"JR Anderson","year":"1976"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0342856.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/ece3.71554","article-title":"Distribution and Influences on Butterfly Diversity in Urban Park Green Spaces: A Case Study of Harbin, China","volume":"15","author":"K Wang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Ecol Evol"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0342856.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"621","DOI":"10.1002\/env.966","article-title":"Principal component analysis for compositional data with outliers","volume":"20","author":"P Filzmoser","year":"2009","journal-title":"Environmetrics"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref040","author":"K van den Boogaart","year":"2025"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemolab.2015.02.019","article-title":"zCompositions \u2014 R package for multivariate imputation of left-censored data under a compositional approach","volume":"143","author":"J Palarea-Albaladejo","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chemom Intell Lab Syst"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref042","author":"R Core Team","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref043","author":"A Kassambara","year":"2020"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref044","author":"T Wei","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref045","author":"Posit Team","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref046","volume-title":"An R Companion to Applied Regression, Third Ed. John-fox.ca","author":"J Fox","year":"2019"},{"issue":"2007","key":"pone.0342856.ref047","first-page":"20231261","article-title":"Practical advice on variable selection and reporting using Akaike information criterion","volume":"290","author":"C Sutherland","year":"2023","journal-title":"Proc Biol Sci"},{"issue":"4148","key":"pone.0342856.ref048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"688","DOI":"10.1038\/163688a0","article-title":"Measurement of Diversity","volume":"163","author":"EH Simpson","year":"1949","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0342856.ref049","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1111\/ecog.07042","article-title":"Measuring metrics: what diversity indicators are most appropriate for different forms of data bias?","volume":"2024","author":"H Qiao","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ecography"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref050","author":"J Oksanen","year":"2022"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref051","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v022.i07","article-title":"The ecodist package for dissimilarity-based analysis of ecological data","volume":"22","author":"SC Goslee","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Stat Softw"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref052","first-page":"1","article-title":"Lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling","volume":"48","author":"Y Rosseel","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Stat Softw"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref053","author":"S Epskamp","year":"2022"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref054","volume-title":"A Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America","author":"CV Covell","year":"2005"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref055","author":"Metalmark Web and Data LLC","year":"2025"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref056","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1017\/S026646740200202X","article-title":"From forest to farmland: diversity of geometrid moths along two habitat gradients on Borneo","volume":"18","author":"JA Beck","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Trop Ecol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0342856.ref057","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3954\/1523-5475-34.1.1","article-title":"An Aerial Approach to Investigating the Relationship between Macromoths and Artificial Nighttime Lights Across an Urban Landscape","volume":"34","author":"PJT White","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Agric Urban Entomol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0342856.ref058","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"925","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.14008","article-title":"Declines in moth populations stress the need for conserving dark nights","volume":"24","author":"F van Langevelde","year":"2018","journal-title":"Glob Chang Biol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0342856.ref059","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1007\/s10841-018-0052-1","article-title":"A role for artificial night-time lighting in long-term changes in populations of 100 widespread macro-moths in UK and Ireland: a citizen-science study","volume":"22","author":"JF Wilson","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Insect Conserv"},{"issue":"1892","key":"pone.0342856.ref060","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20220365","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2022.0365","article-title":"Does artificial light at night alter moth community composition?","volume":"378","author":"K Grenis","year":"2023","journal-title":"Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref061","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/s10841-024-00588-x","article-title":"Moths are less attracted to light traps than they used to be","volume":"28","author":"I Battles","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Insect Conserv"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref062","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1749-6632.2009.04153.x","article-title":"Effects of air pollution on ecosystems and biological diversity in the eastern United States","volume":"1162","author":"GM Lovett","year":"2009","journal-title":"Ann N Y Acad Sci"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref063","volume-title":"Air pollution effects on biodiversity","author":"JR Barker","year":"2012"},{"key":"pone.0342856.ref064","first-page":"100987","article-title":"Population dynamics of herbivorous insects in polluted landscapes","volume":"54","author":"MV Kozlov","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr Res Insect Sci"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0342856.ref065","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1002\/pan3.10592","article-title":"A framework for contextualizing social\u2010ecological biases in contributory science data","volume":"6","author":"EJ Carlen","year":"2024","journal-title":"People Nat"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0342856.ref066","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1111\/ecog.05396","article-title":"A complete inventory of North American butterfly occurrence data: narrowing data gaps, but increasing bias","volume":"44","author":"V Shirey","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecography"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0342856","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T17:38:01Z","timestamp":1778607481000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0342856"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Muzafar","family":"Riyaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"references-count":66,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0342856","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]}}}