title: Can we predict the effects of multiple stressors on insects in a changing climate?
abstract: The responses of insects to climate change will depend on their responses to abiotic and biotic stressors in combination. We surveyed the literature, and although synergistic stressor interactions appear common among insects, the thin taxonomic spread of existing data means that more multi-stressor studies and new approaches are needed. We need to move beyond descriptions of the effects of multiple stressors to a mechanistic, predictive understanding. Further, we must identify which stressor interactions, and species' responses to them, are sufficiently generalizable (i.e. most or all species respond similarly to the same stressor combination), and thus predictable (for new combinations of stressors, or stressors acting via known mechanisms). We discuss experimental approaches that could facilitate this shift toward predictive understanding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, The University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland. Electronic address: sirpa.kaunisto@uef.fi.
authors.forename: Sirpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaunisto
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada.
authors.forename: Laura V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada.
authors.forename: Brent J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sinclair
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological