Global change and insect biodiversity in agroecosystems

This chapter considers the possible effects of global change on the biodiversity of insects in agroecosystems and the implications of these effects for human society. The biodiversity of insects in agroecosystems is clearly important to both ecosystem sustainability and food production. Changes in the distribution and abundance of insect species driven by global change can lead to changes in community composition and diversity at local and regional scales, with implications for ecosystem processes. The chapter reviews these patterns and their underlying causes in the context of several important ecological processes in agroecosystems: predator‐prey interactions, soil maintenance, and crop pollination. For insects, changes in distribution and timing, declines in abundance, and outright extinctions are, and will continue to be, outcomes of ongoing global change processes. The best recommendations for conserving pollinator diversity in agriculture involve managing multiple risk factors as discussed in the chapter.