Hi, insects can addapt much faster to a changing environment, f.g. normally they produce more offspring than vertebrates. That's one reason, I guess. Cheers, Nadine
There is quite a bit of research on this subject. Reproductive rate does certainly does influence the ability of individuals and populations to respond to environmental effects, but there are quite a few issues to consider. Some questions that might help focus the original poster's question are:
[1] How do you define "environment"? Is it defined by biotic (predation, competition) or abiotic (climate, structural landscape) factors?
[2] Are the differences between vertebrates and insects the only things to consider? Consider that many vertebrates and insects are "ectotherms" (I prefer the poikilotherm-homeotherm classification) and can show similar patterns of thermal tolerance. See the following paper:
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/18/6668.long
Anyway, there are many issues here that you're right to ask about. This is definitely important to our understanding of ecological interactions in areas with changing climatic regimes.
Certainly, insects respond differently from vertebrates. They are restricted by their 'cold bloodedness', so most of their activity is restricted to warm months, the cold months being spent in diapause.
Since they are usually much shorter lived than vertebrates, they tend to be more intense in their periods of activity.
They are much more affected by atmospheric humidity than vertebrates: a vertebrate can live in or tolerate short periods of intense dryness if drinking water is available in sufficient quantities, but most insects cannot do so.
These constraints have an effect on their distribution, population, activity and their effect upon the environment.
Insects main response to the environment is through their instinctive behavior, which is by increasing or decreasing their population size. This is to heighten the survival chance of the species.
Vertebrates have a higher developed nerve-fiber system, allowing them to react logically to changes that occur in the environment. Invertebrates on the other hand, most of the time are incapable of learning from their mistakes.
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