Heat stress affecting Amazon insects

Fahad Redha

March 5, 2026
3 min read

A new study of over 2,000 insect species in the Amazon is finding that many of them are suffering from heat stress, being far less capable of dealing with rising temperatures than researchers had once hoped. While some species live at higher altitudes and can temporarily increase their tolerance of heat, those in tropical lowlands where biodiversity is highest lack the same ability. Insects play a crucial role as pollinators, decomposers, and predators, and this could send a ripple across entire ecosystems.

The study was conducted by Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and published in the journal Nature.

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“Current evaluations of the heat tolerance of insects such as moths, flies, and beetles paint a differentiated, and at the same time alarming, picture,” says study author Dr. Kim Holzmann, a researcher at the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at JMU.

The research suggests that many insects cannot simply change their heat tolerance to match their environment. “While species at higher altitudes can increase their heat tolerance, at least in the short term, many lowland species largely lack this ability,” Dr Holzmann said.

Tropical insect species, the study shows, have a limited capacity to adapt to a warming climate and rising temperatures could disrupt their populations especially in areas that have the greatest biodiversity, study author Dr. Marcell Peters said.

“Rising temperatures could have a massive impact on insect populations, especially in regions with the world’s highest biodiversity,” Dr Peters says. “Since insects fulfill central functions in ecosystems as pollinators, decomposers, and predators, there is a threat of far-reaching consequences for entire ecosystems.”

The outlook for the Amazon seems particularly concerning, Dr Holzmann says: “If global ecosystems continue to warm unabated, expected future temperatures will lead to critical heat stress for up to half of the insect species there.”

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