Copyright Anna Schroll

Next Generation Insect Chemical Ecology

Max Planck Center in Lund

The changing climate poses new challenges with regard to pests and disease-carrying insects. The Max Planck Center's research collaboration "Next Generation Insect Chemical Ecology" aims to find out what impact these global changes have on insects and why.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences are jointly investigating the interactions between insects, climate and humans. 

Tracking down the chemical ecology of insects

Over the past 100 years, the human impact on ecosystems and the climate has become increasingly evident due to industrialisation: The climate is warming and sea levels are rising. Pests, such as the bark beetle, are appearing in masses and spreading further and further. At the same time, there is a serious decline in the total insect biomass throughout Europe. While pollinating insect species that play an important role in our ecosystems are threatened with extinction, insect-borne diseases are on the rise due to global warming.

The Max Planck Center's staff are primarily investigating how higher average temperatures, greenhouse gases and air pollution affect insects' sense of smell and how insects adapt to these changes in their environment. This can make an important contribution to solving global problems in the context of the climate crisis, world nutrition and combating diseases.

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