Timing of extreme heat events matters: exposure during parasitism disrupts top-down control.

ABSTRACT: Due to ongoing climate change, extreme climatic events are expected to increase in magnitude and frequency. While individual species' responses to thermal extremes are widely studied, the impact of extreme heat events on species interactions and the key functions they provide in communities is understudied. As outcomes of species interactions depend on coordinated physiology and development, the consequences of heat exposure are likely impacted by its timing relative to the organisms' life history traits, but to what extent is unclear. In this study, we evaluate how the timing of heat exposure affects interactions among nine tropical Drosophila-parasitoid species combinations using laboratory microcosm experiments. Interactions were most affected when heat exposure coincided with parasitis

SUBMITTER: Pardikes NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12343740 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature