Insect Community Responses To Simultaneous CO2, Temperature, And Water Manipulation Within An Old-Field Ecosystem

Climate change researchers have recently recognized a need to shift toward experiments that examine community-level responses to simultaneous exposure of multiple climate change factors (e.g. [C02], temperature, and/or water). Previousstudies have shown effects of temperature and [C02] (especially) individually or in combination on plants and insects, however, little is known about how multiple climate drivers may affect plant-insect community associations. The old-FieldClimate and Atmospheric Manipulation (OCCAM) experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is examining an old-field plant community grown under simultaneous [C02], temperature, and water manipulation. My objective was to determine if [C02], temperature, water, and their potential interactions would affect both insect community structure, and plant-insect community associations.