Consequences of Abiotic and Anthropogenic Stressors in the Antarctic Midge, Belgica antarctica ...

• Main Author: Devlin, Jack
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Kentucky Libraries 2024
• Subjects: FOS Agricultural sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic midge; Antarctica; Belgica antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.166; https://uknowledge.uky.edu/entomology_etds/83/

The ability to tolerate stress is key to maintaining fitness in extreme environments such as the polar regions. Subject to a myriad of extreme year-round abiotic conditions, invertebrates inhabiting the terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica provide an excellent system to investigate adaptations to stress. Understanding the response of these species to abiotic and novel stressors is crucial in a world with rapidly occurring climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity. In this dissertation, I investigated physiological and molecular responses to naturally occurring and human-derived stresses in the midge Belgica antarctica, which is Antarctica’s only endemic insect. In my first research chapter, I tested the hypothesis that Antarctica’s rapidly warming winters are detrimental for insects living there. Antarctic winters last at least six months, during which time constant subzero temperatures render larvae immobile beneath the snow and ice. Unable to feed, larvae rely on stored energy stores for ... : © 2024 Jack J. Devlin ...