Calibrating the data logger…
Insects play important roles such as herbivores, pollinators, disease vectors, and decomposers. However, changing patterns of temperature and precipitation are upending the abundances for many insect populations. These population changes may arise from direct effects, as warmer temperatures may accelerate insect population growth. Insects do not exist in isolation, and this project explores the impacts of warming temperatures on the host plants that insects depend on. These plants, in turn, rely on close association with soil microbes, which themselves may be impacted by changing temperatures. Our project will determine the impacts of warming for insect populations arising from this web of above- and belowground interactions.