Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Recent research has documented shifts in per capita trophic interactions and food webs in response to changes in environmental moisture, from the top-down (consumers to plants), rather than solely bottom-up (plants to consumers). These responses may be predictable from effects of physiological, behavioral, and ecological traits on animal water balance, although predictions could be modified by energy or nutrient requirements, the risk of predation, population-level responses, and bottom-up effects. Relatively little work has explicitly explored food web effects of changes in animal water balance, despite the likelihood of widespread relevance, including during periodic droughts in mesic locations, where taxa may lack adaptations for water conservation. More research is needed, particularly in light of climate change and hydrological alteration.

Publication Date

2017

Publication Title

Current Opinion in Insect Science

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2017.06.007

Volume

23

Start Page No.

13

End Page No.

21

Included in

Biology Commons

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