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Effects of microclimate variation on insect persistence under global change

Nature Reviews Biodiversity volume 1, pages 532–542 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The direct and indirect effects of climate change expose insect populations to environmental conditions that can approach or exceed their physiological limits. The complex life cycles of many insect species, with their elaborate networks of biotic interactions, can add to their vulnerability. In this Perspective, we argue that the negative effects of extreme weather can be offset if insects are able to use favourable microclimates. Microclimatic diversity can be modelled, measured remotely or measured within habitats at scales relevant to insect life cycles. Microclimatic availability within habitats can improve opportunities for adaptive or plastic responses to extremes, potentially moving insect populations towards a more favourable balance between extinction and colonization that can allow species to maintain or shift their geographical ranges over time. Management plans for insects should promote microclimate heterogeneity, as well as the maintenance or creation of microclimates relevant to target species, such as shaded areas and variable topography that reduce temperature and increase moisture availability. Consideration of microclimates is a potentially useful way to advance insect conservation in this period of rapid climate change.

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Fig. 1: Insects experience climatic variation at broad and local spatial scales.
Fig. 2: Thermal and hydric microclimates can provide refugia and facilitate range-expansion opportunities.
Fig. 3: Favourable microclimates for insects in natural, agricultural and urban areas.

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Acknowledgements

J.T.K. is grateful to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for Discovery Grant and Discovery Accelerator Supplement support and to University of Ottawa for support through the University Research Chair in Macroecology and Conservation.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Jeremy T. Kerr, Susan C. C. Gordon.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Jeremy T. Kerr, Susan C. C. Gordon, Gabrielle Ednie, Ashley R. Reynolds & Matthew J. Watson

  2. Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    I-Ching Chen  (陳一菁)

  3. Global Change Biology Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Wendy Foden

  4. South African National Parks, Cape Research Centre, Tokai Park, Cape Town, South Africa

    Wendy Foden

  5. Climate Change Specialist Group, Species Survival Commission, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland

    Wendy Foden

  6. Department of Genetics, Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Evolution & Environment, University College London, London, UK

    Tim Newbold

  7. Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Ashley R. Reynolds

  8. Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Andrew J. Suggitt

  9. Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    John S. Terblanche

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J.T.K. and S.C.C.G. planned and led the collaborative effort on this article. All authors wrote, reviewed and edited the article.

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Kerr, J.T., Gordon, S.C.C., Chen, IC. et al. Effects of microclimate variation on insect persistence under global change. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 1, 532–542 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00067-4

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