Catawba, Davidson team up to study how climate change impacts insects

It’s been said that in the event of an apocalypse, cockroaches will outlast us all. But how resilient overall are creepy-crawlies? A collaborative research project between Catawba College and Davidson College examines the impact climate change may be having on insects.  

Some studies have shown that insect populations are rapidly declining due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and invasive species. The three-year research project jointly conducted by Catawba and Davidson Colleges is meant to look further at how temperature variation affects insects in North America. Scientists hope to use the results to help mitigate an insect decline that could impact entire ecosystems.

But inconsistent findings are prolonging any conclusions.

Andrew Jacobson is a professor in the Environment and Sustainability Department at Catawba College and a co-author of the study. He says that the results show more nuance than researchers expected.

"There has been this kind of assumption that species might respond similarly to environmental variables such as temperature, or precipitation, and that the species would respond similarly to that variable across its range," says Jacobson. "Well, this complicates that kind of that prediction."

Jacobson says this study is important because it sets a baseline for monitoring insect decline which can be used for the next phase of research.