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Ortiz-Colin P, Hulshof CM. Ecotones as Windows into Organismal-to-Biome Scale Responses across Neotropical Forests. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:2396. [PMID: 39273880 PMCID: PMC11397621 DOI: 10.3390/plants13172396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2024] [Revised: 08/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
Tropical forests are incredibly diverse in structure and function. Despite, or perhaps because of, this diversity, tropical biologists often conduct research exclusively in one or perhaps a few forest types. Rarely do we study the ecotone-the interstitial region between forest types. Ecotones are hyper-diverse, dynamic systems that control the flow of energy and organisms between adjacent ecosystems, with their locations determined by species' physiological limits. In this review, we describe how studying ecotones can provide key indicators for monitoring the state of Neotropical forests from organisms to ecosystems. We first describe how ecotones have been studied in the past and summarize our current understanding of tropical ecotones. Next, we provide three example lines of research focusing on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of the ecotone between tropical dry forests and desert; between tropical dry and rainforests; and between Cerrado and Atlantic rainforests, with the latter being a particularly well-studied ecotone. Lastly, we outline methods and tools for studying ecotones that combine remote sensing, new statistical techniques, and field-based forest dynamics plot data, among others, for understanding these important systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Perla Ortiz-Colin
- Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
| | - Catherine M Hulshof
- Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
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2
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Lenard A, Diamond SE. Evidence of plasticity, but not evolutionary divergence, in the thermal limits of a highly successful urban butterfly. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 155:104648. [PMID: 38754698 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Despite the generally negative impact of urbanization on insect biodiversity, some insect species persist in urban habitats. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning the ability of insects to tolerate urban habitats is critical given the contribution of land-use change to the global insect decline. Compensatory mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary change in thermal physiological traits could allow urban populations to persist under the altered thermal regimes of urban habitats. It is important to understand the contributions of plasticity and evolution to trait change along urbanization gradients as the two mechanisms operate under different constraints and timescales. Here, we examine the plastic and evolutionary responses of heat and cold tolerance (critical thermal maximum [CTmax] and critical thermal minimum [CTmin]) to warming among populations of the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, from urban and non-urban (rural) habitats using a two-temperature common garden experiment. Although we expected populations experiencing urban warming to exhibit greater CTmax and diminished CTmin through plastic and evolutionary mechanisms, our study revealed evidence only for plasticity in the expected direction of both thermal tolerance traits. We found no evidence of evolutionary divergence in either heat or cold tolerance, despite each trait showing evolutionary potential. Our results suggest that thermal tolerance plasticity contributes to urban persistence in this system. However, as the magnitude of the plastic response was low and comparable to other insect species, other compensatory mechanisms likely further underpin this species' success in urban habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angie Lenard
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 2074 Adelbert Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
| | - Sarah E Diamond
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 2074 Adelbert Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
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3
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Andersen MK, Willot Q, MacMillan HA. A neurophysiological limit and its biogeographic correlations: cold-induced spreading depolarization in tropical butterflies. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb246313. [PMID: 37665251 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
The physiology of insects is directly influenced by environmental temperature, and thermal tolerance is therefore intrinsically linked to their thermal niche and distribution. Understanding the mechanisms that limit insect thermal tolerance is crucial to predicting biogeography and range shifts. Recent studies on locusts and flies suggest that the critical thermal minimum (CTmin) follows a loss of CNS function via a spreading depolarization. We hypothesized that other insect taxa share this phenomenon. Here, we investigate whether spreading depolarization events occur in butterflies exposed to cold. Supporting our hypothesis, we found that exposure to stressful cold induced spreading depolarization in all 12 species tested. This reinforces the idea that spreading depolarization is a common mechanism underlying the insect CTmin. Furthermore, our results highlight how CNS function is tuned to match the environment of a species. Further research into the physiology underlying spreading depolarization will likely elucidate key mechanisms determining insect thermal tolerance and ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Quentin Willot
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Heath A MacMillan
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
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4
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Ashe‐Jepson E, Arizala Cobo S, Basset Y, Bladon AJ, Kleckova I, Laird‐Hopkins BC, Mcfarlane A, Sam K, Savage AF, Zamora AC, Turner EC, Lamarre GPA. Tropical butterflies use thermal buffering and thermal tolerance as alternative strategies to cope with temperature increase. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:1759-1770. [PMID: 37438871 PMCID: PMC10953451 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Climate change poses a severe threat to many taxa, with increased mean temperatures and frequency of extreme weather events predicted. Insects can respond to high temperatures using behaviour, such as angling their wings away from the sun or seeking cool local microclimates to thermoregulate or through physiological tolerance. In a butterfly community in Panama, we compared the ability of adult butterflies from 54 species to control their body temperature across a range of air temperatures (thermal buffering ability), as well as assessing the critical thermal maxima for a subset of 24 species. Thermal buffering ability and tolerance were influenced by family, wing length, and wing colour, with Pieridae, and butterflies that are large or darker in colour having the strongest thermal buffering ability, but Hesperiidae, small, and darker butterflies tolerating the highest temperatures. We identified an interaction between thermal buffering ability and physiological tolerance, where species with stronger thermal buffering abilities had lower thermal tolerance, and vice versa. This interaction implies that species with more stable body temperatures in the field may be more vulnerable to increases in ambient temperatures, for example heat waves associated with ongoing climate change. Our study demonstrates that tropical species employ diverse thermoregulatory strategies, which is also reflected in their sensitivity to temperature extremes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yves Basset
- ForestGEOSmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
- Maestria de EntomologiaUniversity of PanamaPanamaRepublic of Panama
| | | | - Irena Kleckova
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
| | - Benita C. Laird‐Hopkins
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | - Alex Mcfarlane
- ForestGEOSmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | - Katerina Sam
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
| | - Amanda F. Savage
- ForestGEOSmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | - Ana Cecilia Zamora
- ForestGEOSmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | | | - Greg P. A. Lamarre
- ForestGEOSmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
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5
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Freedman AH, Harrigan RJ, Zhen Y, Hamilton AM, Smith TB. Evidence for ecotone speciation across an African rainforest-savanna gradient. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:2287-2300. [PMID: 36718952 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Accelerating climate change and habitat loss make it imperative that plans to conserve biodiversity consider species' ability to adapt to changing environments. However, in biomes where biodiversity is highest, the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for generating adaptative variation and, ultimately, new species are frequently poorly understood. African rainforests represent one such biome, as decadal debates continue concerning the mechanisms generating African rainforest biodiversity. These debates hinge on the relative importance of geographic isolation versus divergent natural selection across environmental gradients. Hindering progress is a lack of robust tests of these competing hypotheses. Because African rainforests are severely at-risk due to climate change and other anthropogenic activities, addressing this long-standing debate is critical for making informed conservation decisions. We use demographic inference and allele frequency-environment relationships to investigate mechanisms of diversification in an African rainforest skink, Trachylepis affinis, a species inhabiting the gradient between rainforest and rainforest-savanna mosaic (ecotone). We provide compelling evidence of ecotone speciation, in which gene flow has all but ceased between rainforest and ecotone populations, at a level consistent with infrequent hybridization between sister species. Parallel patterns of genomic, morphological, and physiological divergence across this environmental gradient and pronounced allele frequency-environment correlation indicate speciation is mostly probably driven by ecological divergence, supporting a central role for divergent natural selection. Our results provide strong evidence for the importance of ecological gradients in African rainforest speciation and inform conservation strategies that preserve the processes that produce and maintain biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam H Freedman
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences Informatics Group, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ryan J Harrigan
- Centre for Tropical Research and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Ying Zhen
- Centre for Tropical Research and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Alison M Hamilton
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Thomas B Smith
- Centre for Tropical Research and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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6
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Youngsteadt E, Prado SG, Keleher KJ, Kirchner M. Can behaviour and physiology mitigate effects of warming on ectotherms? A test in urban ants. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:568-579. [PMID: 36642830 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Global climate change is expected to have pervasive effects on the diversity and distribution of species, particularly ectotherms whose body temperatures depend on environmental temperatures. However, these impacts remain difficult to predict, in part because ectotherms may adapt or acclimate to novel conditions or may use behavioural thermoregulation to reduce their exposure to stressful microclimates. Here we examine the potential for physiological and behavioural changes to mitigate effects of environmental warming on five species of ants in a temperate forest habitat subject to urban warming. We worked in eight urban and eight non-urban forest sites in North Carolina, USA; sites experienced a 1.1°C range of mean summer air temperatures. At each site, we documented species-specific microclimates (ant operative temperatures, Te ) and ant activity on a transect of 14 bait stations at three times of day. In the laboratory, we measured upper thermal tolerance (CTmax ) and thermal preference (Tpref ) for each focal species. We then asked whether thermal traits shifted at hotter sites, and whether ants avoided non-preferred microclimates in the field. CTmax and Tpref did not increase at warmer sites, indicating that these populations did not adapt or acclimate to urban warming. Consistent with behavioural thermoregulation, four of the five species were less likely to occupy baits where Te departed from Tpref . Apparent thermoregulation resulted from fixed diel activity patterns that helped ants avoid the most inappropriate temperatures but did not compensate for daily or spatial temperature variation: Hotter sites had hotter ants. This study uses a novel approach to detect behavioural thermoregulation and sublethal warming in foraging insects. The results suggest that adaptation and behaviour may not protect common temperate forest ants from a warming climate, and highlight the need to evaluate effects of chronic, sublethal warming on small ectotherms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Youngsteadt
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Sara Guiti Prado
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kirsten Joanna Keleher
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Michelle Kirchner
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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7
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Steidinger BS, Büntgen U, Stobbe U, Tegel W, Sproll L, Haeni M, Moser B, Bagi I, Bonet J, Buée M, Dauphin B, Martínez‐Peña F, Molinier V, Zweifel R, Egli S, Peter M. The fall of the summer truffle: Recurring hot, dry summers result in declining fruitbody production of Tuber aestivum in Central Europe. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:7376-7390. [PMID: 36200354 PMCID: PMC9828532 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Global warming is pushing populations outside their range of physiological tolerance. According to the environmental envelope framework, the most vulnerable populations occur near the climatic edge of their species' distributions. In contrast, populations from the climatic center of the species range should be relatively buffered against climate warming. We tested this latter prediction using a combination of linear mixed effects and machine learning algorithms on an extensive, citizen-scientist generated dataset on the fruitbody productivity of the Burgundy (aka summer) truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.), a keystone, ectomycorrhizal tree-symbiont occurring on a wide range of temperate climates. T. aestivum's fruitbody productivity was monitored at 3-week resolution over up to 8 continuous years at 20 sites distributed in the climatic center of its European distribution in southwest Germany and Switzerland. We found that T. aestivum fruitbody production is more sensitive to summer drought than would be expected from the breadth of its species' climatic niche. The monitored populations occurring nearly 5°C colder than the edge of their species' climatic distribution. However, interannual fruitbody productivity (truffle mass year-1 ) fell by a median loss of 22% for every 1°C increase in summer temperature over a site's 30-year mean. Among the most productive monitored populations, the temperature sensitivity was even higher, with single summer temperature anomalies of 3°C sufficient to stop fruitbody production altogether. Interannual truffle productivity was also related to the phenology of host trees, with ~22 g less truffle mass for each 1-day reduction in the length of the tree growing season. Increasing summer drought extremes are therefore likely to reduce fruiting among summer truffle populations throughout Central Europe. Our results suggest that European T. aestivum may be a mosaic of vulnerable populations, sensitive to climate-driven declines at lower thresholds than implied by its species distribution model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian S. Steidinger
- Department of EcologyUniversity of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Ulf Büntgen
- Global Change Research Centre (Czech Globe)BrnoCzech Republic
- Department of GeographyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Department of Geography, Faculty of ScienceMasaryk UniversityBrnoCzech Republic
| | | | - Willy Tegel
- Forest GrowthAlbert‐Ludwigs UniversityFreiburgGermany
| | | | - Matthias Haeni
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Barbara Moser
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | | | | | - Marc Buée
- Laboratory of Excellence ARBRE, INRAE‐Grand Est, Interactions Arbres/MicroorganismesINRAE, UMR 1136 INRAE‐University of LorraineChampenouxFrance
| | - Benjamin Dauphin
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Fernando Martínez‐Peña
- Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon CITAZaragozaSpain
- European Mycological Institute EGTC‐EMISoriaSpain
| | - Virginie Molinier
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Roman Zweifel
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Simon Egli
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Martina Peter
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
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8
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Pereira Martins AR, Martins LP, Ho W, McMillan WO, Ready JS, Barrett R. Scale-dependent environmental effects on phenotypic distributions in Heliconius butterflies. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9286. [PMID: 36177141 PMCID: PMC9471044 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying the relative importance of different mechanisms responsible for the emergence and maintenance of phenotypic diversity can be challenging, as multiple selective pressures and stochastic events are involved in these processes. Therefore, testing how environmental conditions shape the distribution of phenotypes can offer important insights on local adaptation, divergence, and speciation. The red-yellow Müllerian mimicry ring of Heliconius butterflies exhibits a wide diversity of color patterns across the Neotropics and is involved in multiple hybrid zones, making it a powerful system to investigate environmental drivers of phenotypic distributions. Using the distantly related Heliconius erato and Heliconius melpomene co-mimics and a multiscale distribution approach, we investigated whether distinct phenotypes of these species are associated with different environmental conditions. We show that Heliconius red-yellow phenotypic distribution is strongly driven by environmental gradients (especially thermal and precipitation variables), but that phenotype and environment associations vary with spatial scale. While co-mimics are usually predicted to occur in similar environments at large spatial scales, patterns at local scales are not always consistent (i.e., different variables are best predictors of phenotypic occurrence in different locations) or congruent (i.e., co-mimics show distinct associations with environment). We suggest that large-scale analyses are important for identifying how environmental factors shape broad mimetic phenotypic distributions, but that local studies are essential to understand the context-dependent biotic, abiotic, and historical mechanisms driving finer-scale phenotypic transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ananda R. Pereira Martins
- Redpath MuseumMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanama CityPanama
| | - Lucas P. Martins
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of CanterburyChristchurchNew Zealand
| | | | | | - Jonathan S. Ready
- Instituto de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal do ParáBelémBrazil
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Ling YF, Bonebrake TC. Consistent heat tolerance under starvation across seasonal morphs in Mycalesis mineus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2022; 271:111261. [PMID: 35728756 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Heat tolerance is a key trait for understanding insect responses to extreme heat events, but tolerance may be modulated by changes in food availability and seasonal variability in temperature. Differences in sensitivity and resistance across life stages are also important determinants of species responses. Using a full-factorial experimental design, we here investigated the effects of larval starvation, adult starvation, and seasonal morph (developmental temperature) on heat tolerance of a seasonally polyphenic butterfly, Mycalesis mineus, in both larval and adult stages. While starvation and rearing temperature profoundly influenced various life history traits in the insect, none of the treatments affected adult heat tolerance. There was also no evidence of reduced heat tolerance in larvae under starvation stress, though larval thermal tolerance was higher by ~1 °C at the higher developmental temperature. The lack of a starvation effect was unexpected given the general physiological cost of heat tolerance mechanisms. This might be attributed to the ability to tolerate heat being preserved under resource-based trade-offs due to its critical role in ensuring insect survival. Invariant heat tolerance in M. mineus shows that some insects may have thermal capacity to cope with extreme heat under short-term starvation and seasonality disruptions, though more prolonged changes may have greater consequences. The capacity to maintain key physiological function under multiple stressors will be crucial for species resilience in future novel environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuet Fung Ling
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Timothy C Bonebrake
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
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First person – Michel A. K. Dongmo. Biol Open 2021. [PMCID: PMC8061907 DOI: 10.1242/bio.058717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Michel Dongmo is first author on ‘Local adaptation in thermal tolerance for a tropical butterfly across ecotone and rainforest habitats’, published in BiO. Michel conducted the research described in this article while a Research Assistant in Drs Rachid Hanna and Komi Fiaboe's lab at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Michel is now a postdoc in the lab of Dr Timothy Bonebrake at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, China, investigating the response and adaptation of insect populations to ongoing climate change in the field of agriculture and conservation biology in Central Africa.
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