New approaches for pest control and maintaining healthy environments under climate change

由于气候和人口压力，自然环境正在迅速变化，影响着粮食供应和自然遗产。昆虫和其他无脊椎动物提供重要的服务，如授粉、防治害虫和土壤周转，并为野生动物提供食物。这些服务正受到威胁，需要开发维持它们和保护生物多样性的方法。该项目将确定昆虫用来应对环境变化的遗传和进化机制，以及促进进化恢复力以保护环境服务的过程。这将导致在澳大利亚阿尔卑斯山等受威胁的环境中制定可持续农业生产和生物多样性保护的指导方针。

Natural environments are rapidly changing due to climate and human population pressure, affecting food supply and natural heritage. Insects and other invertebrates perform essential services like pollination, pest control and soil turnover, and provide food for wildlife. These services are under threat, and ways of maintaining them and protecting biodiversity need to be developed. This project will identify the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms that insects use to deal with environmental changes and the processes that promote evolutionary resilience to safeguard environmental services. This should lead to guidelines for sustainable agricultural production and biodiversity protection in threatened environments like the Australian Alps.