Climate change and global warming are of great concern to agriculture worldwide and are among the most discussed issues in today’s society. Climate parameters such as increased temperatures, rising atmospheric CO2 levels, and changing precipitation patterns have significant impacts on agricultural production and on agricultural insect pests. Changes in climate can affect insect pests in several ways. They can result in an expansion of their geographic distribution, increased survival during overwintering, increased number of generations, altered synchrony between plants and pests, altered interspecific interaction, increased risk of invasion by migratory pests, increased incidence of insect-transmitted plant diseases, and reduced effectiveness of biological control, especially natural enemies. As a result, there is a serious risk of crop economic losses, as well as a challenge to human food security. As a major driver of pest population dynamics, climate change will require adaptive management strategies to deal with the changing status of pests. Several priorities can be identified for future research on the effects of climatic changes on agricultural insect pests. These include modified integrated pest management tactics, monitoring climate and pest populations, and the use of modelling prediction tools.

Climate change and invasive species are major environmental issues facing the world today. They represent the major threats for various types of ecosystems worldwide, mainly managed ecosystems such as agriculture. This study aims to examine the link between climate change and the biological invasion of insect pest species. Increased international trade systems and human mobility have led to increasing introduction rates of invasive insects while climate change could decrease barriers for their establishment and distribution. To mitigate environmental and economic damage it is important to understand the biotic and abiotic factors affecting the process of invasion (transport, introduction, establishment, and dispersal) in terms of climate change. We highlight the major biotic factors affecting the biological invasion process: diet breadth, phenological plasticity, and lifecycle strategies. Finally, we present alien insect pest invasion management that includes prevention, eradication, and assessment of the biological invasion in the form of modelling prediction tools.

Climate change has a significant impact on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivation due to the occurrence of various environmental stress parameters. It destabilizes wheat production mainly through abiotic stresses (heat waves, drought, floods, frost, salinity, and nutrient deficiency) and improved conditions for pest and disease development and infestation as biotic parameters. The impact of these parameters can be reduced by timely and appropriate management measures such as irrigation, fertilization, or pesticide application. However, this requires the early diagnosis and quantification of the various stressors. Since they induce specific physiological responses in plant cells, structures, and tissues, environmental stress parameters can be monitored by different sensing methods, taking into account that these responses affect the signal in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM), especially visible (VIS), near infrared (NIR), and shortwave infrared (SWIR). This study reviews recent findings in the application of remote and proximal sensing methods for early detection and evaluation of abiotic and biotic stress parameters in crops, with an emphasis on winter wheat. The study first provides an overview of climate-change-induced stress parameters in winter wheat and their physiological responses. Second, the most promising non-invasive remote sensing methods are presented, such as airborne and satellite multispectral (VIS and NIR) and hyperspectral imaging, as well as proximal sensing methods using VNIR-SWIR spectroscopy. Third, data analysis methods using vegetation indices (VI), chemometrics, and various machine learning techniques are presented, as well as the main application areas of sensor-based analysis, namely, decision-making processes in precision agriculture.

The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855)) is an extremely polyphagous invasive insect originating from East Asia. It causes damage by feeding on fruit trees and shrubs, legumes, forest trees, and ornamental shrubs and trees. The pest has successfully established in North America and Europe and causes economic damage to agricultural production. The first discovery of H. halys in Croatia occurred in 2017 in the coastal region in Rijeka. In 2018, the pest was sporadically observed in urban areas of Sveta Nedelja, Zagreb and Vukovar, and a total of 22 specimens of H. halys were found in single and multi-family houses in eight locations. The discovery of the species in the continental part of the country is evidence of the spread of this species in Croatia. During 2019, the first mass occurrence of the pest was detected in the rural area of Zagreb (Drenčec) in a soybean field. A total of 723 specimens of H. halys were identified.The average number of stink bugs per 10 plants was 14 specimens, which poses a serious threat to soybean production in the area. The very rapid spread of the pest from urban to rural areas and the establishment of its local populations is evidence of the invasive nature of the species and a warning signal for farmers in Croatia. To prevent the spread and mass occurrence of H. halys on agricultural land and to minimise possible damage to agricultural production, it is necessary to constantly monitor the pest and, if necessary, to take appropriate protective measures in agriculture.

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