Physiological basis of insect community responses to climate change

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2022

End date

12/31/2027

Budget

1,482,027 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

The earth’s climate is rapidly changing and predicting the biological response to these changes is a major scientific challenge. To date, most research has been focused only on understanding how warmer temperatures impact organisms. Yet, less is known about the combined impacts of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation. Insects are particularly vulnerable to the combined stress of higher temperatures and drier conditions, but little is known about the vulnerability of insect species adapted to different climates. Yet, insect species provide many important ecosystem services, like pollination, and there is growing evidence that insect populations are declining around the world. This research project will compare the physiological tolerance of related insect species from contrasting climates (northern Norway, central Norway, central France, and southern Spain) to better understand future responses. Specifically, the project will measure the temperature sensitivity of metabolism and water loss of insects to better understand how vulnerability to warming and desiccation differs geographically and among species. Because these physiological responses can change as a function of the microorganisms living inside and on the surface of insects, DNA metabarcoding will be used identify insect species and the microorganisms they support. These results will be combined with future climate projections to develop a new class of physiologically informed models to predict which species are at greatest risk or likely to benefit under future climates. The ultimate goal of this project is to transfer the knowledge gained to researchers and policy makers interested in how insects will impact ecosystems, agriculture, and food security in the future.