Jul 3, 2009
Story Timeline: 145 days
Jessica Hellman, a biologist at the University of Notre Dame, supervises her doctoral student, Shannon Pelini. Hellmann is studying the impact of climate change on insects and other organisms. Credit: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. If it were up to Jessica Hellmann, insects such as butterflies and beetles would wield just as much conservation clout as traditional conservation icons, such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins. Why? “Animals such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins are tremendously important, but mostly because they help define how we think about our relationship with the natural world,” says Hellmann. “But when it comes to the functioning of ecosystems, insects are where it’s at.” Why are...
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