Event: Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on Small Islands: Unveiling Insect Responses through PALEOSIM
Date: Friday 28 June 2024
Time: 16:45
Venue: Msida University Campus, Erin Serracino Inglott Hall
Registration: Confirm your attendance by registering online

With rising temperatures, shifting weather patterns, and increasing sea levels, climate change poses a severe threat to the delicate ecological balance of small islands. The Circum-Sicilian islands, are no exception, being particularly susceptible due to their limited natural resources.

The PALEOSIM Project, funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship, is exploring the ecological impacts of climate change on these vulnerable environments. With the use of advanced climate modelling tools, PALEOSIM is seeking to uncover how insect populations, which are key indicators of ecological health, respond to these environmental changes.

This seminar entitled “Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on Small Islands: Unveiling Insect Responses through PALEOSIM,” will offer the initial results from this project, by showcasing a new tool designed to identify the preferred climate conditions for insects occurring in the central Mediterranean basin.

Historically, climate changes occurred frequently, with varying intensities, and all this led to the present distribution of insect species. To investigate these climate impacts, PALEOSIM has produced state-of-the-art climate simulations of the Mediterranean region. This is providing new insights on what may happen to local insect species during the current climate crisis. 

A welcoming address will be delivered by Prof. Ing. Simon Fabri, Pro-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Malta, and Prof. Simone Fattorini, a distinguished evolutionary biologist, will introduce the subject-matter via a presentation entitled “Insect conservation on Mediterranean small islands”. The seminar will be chaired by Prof. David Mifsud, and led by Dr James Ciarlo'.