Climate-driven disruption of multitrophic interactions: cascading impacts on beneficial insects, ecosystem functioning, and food security
Wakil, Waqas; Kavallieratos, Nickolas G.; Boukouvala, Maria C.; Gidari, Demeter Lorentha S.; Filintas, Constantin S.; Ghazanfar, Muhammad Usman; Basit, Abdul; Liu, Tong-Xian; Bennett, Joanne M.; Liu, Jian; Gurr, Geoff M.; Hernández-Rivera, Álvaro; González-Tokman, Daniel; Dáttilo, Wesley; Escobar, Federico; Bryan, Caleb B.; Prager, Sean M.; Alhewairini, Saleh S.; Harvey, Jeffrey A.
published online: Aug 12, 2026
manuscript accepted: Mar 19, 2026
final revised version received: Feb 10, 2026
manuscript revision requested: Jan 16, 2026
manuscript received: Aug 31, 2025
Open Access (paper may be downloaded free of charge)
Abstract
Beneficial insects are vital to the stability of ecosystems and global food production through their roles in pollination, pest regulation, and nutrient cycling. However, the accelerating pace of anthropogenic climate change poses serious threats to their survival and functionality. This review examines how anthropogenic threats, focusing principally on climate change, impact the biology, behavior, and ecological interactions of pollinators, natural enemies (predators and parasitoids), and dung beetles. Under climate warming, pollinators face temporal mismatches with flowering plants, reduced foraging efficiency, and habitat loss, risking declines in crop yields and biodiversity. Natural enemies experience disruptions in trophic interactions and reduced effectiveness in pest control due to temperature-induced mismatches and physiological stress. Organic matter recyclers, such as dung beetles, are threatened by changing land use, and shifting thermal niches leading to declines in dung removal, impairing ecosystem functioning. Conservation strategies such as habitat restoration and agroecological practices offer pathways to support beneficial insect assemblages. Modeling tools, such as Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDMs) and ecological network analyses, have advancing predictive capabilities for future scenarios. By integrating predictive modelling, AI-enabled data synthesis, and global surveillance networks, future research can shift from retrospective assessments to anticipatory forecasts that support proactive conservation of beneficial insects and the ecosystem services they provide.
Keywords
pollinators • natural enemies • dung beetles • phenological mismatch • ecological networks • species distribution models • conservation strategies • ecosystem services