Effect of Temperature on Plant Resistance to Arthropod Pests

Abstract

Temperature has a strong influence on the development, survival, and fecundity of herbivorous arthropods, and it plays a key role in regulating the growth and development of their host plants. In addition, temperature affects the production of plant secondary chemicals as well as structural characteristics used for defense against herbivores. Thus, temperature has potentially important implications for host plant resistance. Because temperature directly impacts arthropod pests, both positively and negatively, distinguishing direct effects from indirect effects mediated through host plants poses a challenge for researchers and practitioners. A more comprehensive understanding of how temperature affects plant resistance specifically, and arthropod pests in general, would lead to better predictions of pest populations, and more effective use of plant resistance as a management tactic. Therefore, the goals of this paper are to 1) review and update knowledge about temperature effects on plant resistance, 2) evaluate alternative experimental approaches for separating direct from plant-mediated indirect effects of temperature on pests, including benefits and limitations of each approach, and 3) offer recommendations for future research.

Biomod2 modeling for predicting the potential ecological distribution of three Fritillaria species under climate change

“…2 C). The corresponding findings confirmed that temperature positively influenced plants by accelerating growth rate, increasing size, implicating host resistance to pests, and improving soil nutrients 72 , 73 . On the other hand, the highly and moderately suitable area of F. delavayi was reduced by 1% under the high emission (SSP585) scenario, with respect to those in the current situation (Supplementary Fig.…”

Experimental warming increases the vulnerability of high‐elevation plant populations to a specialist herbivore

“…Building on previous work demonstrating significant indirect effects of temperature on plant resistance and herbivore performance (Bauerfeind & Fischer, 2013; Hamann et al, 2021; Kharouba & Yang, 2021; Nechols et al, 2020), as well as effects of experimental warming on interactions of high‐elevation plant communities with herbivores (Birkemoe et al, 2016; Descombes, Kergunteuil, et al, 2020; Descombes, Pitteloud, et al, 2020), the current findings demonstrate that the response of plant populations to warming can vary across broad environmental gradients, with implications for their interactions with herbivores. Growing A. alpina under warm conditions resulted in reduced performance of herbivores, consistent with the warming‐induced resistance seen in other low‐elevation Brassicaceae (e.g.…”

“…Building on previous work demonstrating significant indirect effects of temperature on plant resistance and herbivore performance (Bauerfeind & Fischer, 2013;Hamann et al, 2021;Kharouba & Yang, 2021;Nechols et al, 2020), as well as effects TA B L E 3 Statistical significance of the fixed effects of elevation (or population), temperature and relevant covariates on (a) larval performance, and (b) morphological traits (trichome density and SLA) following model simplification. For both (a) and (b) separate models were used to test the interaction between elevation and temperature (upper rows), and population and temperature (lower rows).…”

“…plant-mediated effects of temperature on herbivore feeding rates and performance can be comparable to the direct effects of temperature on herbivores (Bauerfeind & Fischer, 2013;Nechols et al, 2020;Pham & Hwang, 2020), suggesting they may significantly influence plant vulnerability to herbivory under climate warming. There is also considerable evidence that the effect of warming on herbivore resistance varies among plant species Hamann et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2019); however, relatively little is known about the specific traits responsible for such variation or about the extent of variation in temperature-mediated herbivore resistance among populations within species.…”

“…Those that explicitly test this effect suggest that by altering plant nutritional quality and defence investment, plant responses to warmer temperatures can reduce larval performance (DeLucia et al, 2012;Jamieson et al, 2015;Kharouba & Yang, 2021;Pham & Hwang, 2020;Zvereva & Kozlov, 2006). Moreover, the magnitude of such plant-mediated effects of temperature on herbivore feeding rates and performance can be comparable to the direct effects of temperature on herbivores (Bauerfeind & Fischer, 2013;Nechols et al, 2020;Pham & Hwang, 2020), suggesting they may significantly influence plant vulnerability to herbivory under climate warming. There is also considerable evidence that the effect of warming on herbivore resistance varies among plant species Descombes, Pitteloud, et al, 2020;Hamann et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2019); however, relatively little is known about the specific traits responsible for such variation or about the extent of variation in temperature-mediated herbivore resistance among populations within species.…”