As humans face the challenges of a climate change, one UQ researcher is turning to the insect world for some clues to adapting to a changing environment.
Dr Craig White, from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a $70,000 UQ Research Foundation Excellence Award to study how insects breathe and how their breathing patterns have been shaped by evolutionary pressures.
“Many insects can hold their breath for hours,” Dr White said.
“While we breathe in and out continuously, many insects are discontinuous breathers and I am looking at whether this has an evolutionary advantage in different climates and environments.”
The 31-year-old animal physiologist from Yeronga said the way insects breathe, especially the way they deal with high levels of carbon dioxide when holding their breath, is surprisingly poorly understood.
“Insects don’t have lungs but rather a network of air-filled tubes within their bodies that open to the air via a system of valves,” he said.
“Not all insects hold their breath, so we want to know why only some do it, a question that has spawned a number of theories over the years, but none are really satisfactory.”
“Some people have thought it might have to do with water loss, but we have found insects that do it in very humid environments, so we are trying to find the advantage to these breathing patterns.”
He said his interest in insects, such as beetles, butterflies and cockroaches, was driven by their importance in the health of the planet.
“If insects die, then everything else will die,” he said.
“They are such an important part of terrestrial ecosystems.”
The UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards have been run for 11 years and are an initiative of UQ to recognise outstanding performance and leadership potential in early career researchers.
Media: Dr Craig White (07 3365 8539) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802 or 0433 364 181).
