Assistant Professor Kent State University Kent, Ohio
Understanding global phenomena is inherently complicated, and often lead to scientific controversy. A recent example is the ongoing debate about global insect decline: several high profile reviews have reduced vast, complicated literature to simplified patterns, quickly followed by other scientists pointing out flaws and nuances that render the latter’s claims untrue or unsupported. The reality is, they’re all right (or all wrong?): while we are undoubtably in a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, actual patterns of insect species loss driven by anthropogenic change are idiosyncratic, and often data and analytical tools are collected and applied at inappropriate scales to capture meaningful patterns. Time series approaches to temporal data are a good start to handling some of these issues, but are underutilized and not necessarily built for syntheses. In this talk, I will examine some of the approaches that have been taken to understanding this phenomenon, look at why we’re having trouble getting to a single answer, and explore some ways forward and new tools for understanding change and trajectory in populations.
