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Biological Reviews
Article . 2024 . Peer-reviewed
License: CC BY
Data sources: Crossref
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PubMed Central
Article . 2024
License: CC BY
Data sources: PubMed Central
https://dx.doi.org/10.17169/re...
Other literature type . 2025
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Insect immunity in the Anthropocene

Authors: Md Kawsar Khan; Jens Rolff;

Insect immunity in the Anthropocene

Abstract

ABSTRACTAnthropogenic activities result in global change, including climate change, landscape degradation and pollution, that can alter insect physiology and immune defences. These changes may have contributed to global insect decline and the dynamics of insect‐transmitted diseases. The ability of insects to mount immune responses upon infection is crucial for defence against pathogens and parasites. Suppressed immune defences reduce fitness by causing disease‐driven mortality and elevated immune responses reduce energy available to invest in other fitness traits such as reproduction. Understanding the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect–pathogen interactions is therefore key to determining the contribution of anthropogenic global change to pathogen‐driven global insect decline and the emergence and transmission of insect‐borne diseases. Here, we synthesise evidence of the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect immunity. We found evidence that anthropogenic factors, such as insecticides and heavy metals, directly impacting insect immune responses by inhibiting immune activation pathways. Alternatively, factors such as global warming, heatwaves, elevated CO2 and landscape degradation can indirectly reduce insect immune responses via reducing the energy available for immune function. We further review how anthropogenic factors impact pathogen clearance and contribute to an increase in vector‐borne diseases. We discuss the fitness cost of anthropogenic factors via pathogen‐driven mortality and reduced reproductive output and how this can contribute to species extinction. We found that most research has determined the impact of a single anthropogenic factor on insect immune responses or pathogen resistance. We recommend studying the combined impact of multiple stressors on immune response and pathogen resistance to understand better how anthropogenic factors affect insect immunity. We conclude by highlighting the importance of initiatives to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect immunity, to reduce the spread of vector‐borne diseases, and to protect vulnerable ecosystems from emerging diseases.

Related Organizations
Keywords

Insecta, Biowissenschaften; Biologie, Climate Change, vector-borne diseases, Animals, pollution, Original Article, insect decline, global change, host–pathogen interactions

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    popularity
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    Top 10%
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
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    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
17
Top 10%
Average
Top 10%
Green
hybrid