Global Change, Herbivores and Their Natural Enemies

Hentley, William T.; Wade, Ruth N.

doi:10.1002/9781119070894.ch10

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Changes in water availability and below‐ground herbivory were found to affect the potential fitness of a predator meditated by the plant and herbivore. To date, very few studies have investigated the impact of water stress on multi‐trophic interactions encompassing above‐ and below‐ ground interactions particularly in agroecosystems (Hentley & Wade ) despite reports that higher trophic levels may be more sensitive to changes in climate (Voigt et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of predicted precipitation scenarios on multitrophic interactions

et al. 2017

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Summary Predicted changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the UK have the potential to disrupt terrestrial ecosystem function. However, responses of different trophic levels to these changes in rainfall patterns, and the underlying mechanisms, are not well‐characterised. This study aimed to investigate how changes in both the quantity and frequency of rainfall events will affect the outcome of interactions between plants, insect herbivores (above‐ and below‐ground) and natural enemies. Hordeum vulgare L. plants were grown in controlled conditions and in the field, and subjected to three precipitation scenarios: ambient (based on a local 10 year average rainfall); continuous drought (40% reduction compared with ambient); drought/deluge (40% reduction compared to ambient at a reduced frequency). The effects of these watering regimes and wireworm (Agriotes species) root herbivory on the performance of the plants, aphid herbivores above‐ground (Sitobion avenae, Metapolophium dirhodum, and Rhopalosiphum padi), and natural enemies of aphids including ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) were assessed from measurements of plant growth, insect abundance and mass, and assays of feeding behaviour. Continuous drought decreased plant biomass, whereas reducing the frequency of watering events did not affect plant biomass but did alter plant chemical composition. In controlled conditions, continuous drought ameliorated the negative impact of wireworms on plant biomass. Compared with the ambient treatment, aphid mass was increased by 15% when feeding on plants subjected to drought/deluge; and ladybirds were 66% heavier when feeding on these aphids but this did not affect ladybird prey choice. In field conditions, wireworms feeding below‐ground reduced the number of shoot‐feeding aphids under ambient and continuous drought conditions but not under drought/deluge. Predicted changes in both the frequency and intensity of precipitation events under climate change have the potential to limit plant growth, but reduce wireworm herbivory, whilst simultaneously promoting above‐ground aphid numbers and mass, with these effects transferring to the third trophic level. Understanding the effect of future changes in the precipitation on species interactions is critical for determining their potential impact on ecosystem functioning and constructing accurate predictions under global change scenarios. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12858/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of predicted precipitation scenarios on multitrophic interactions

et al. 2017

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“…). Climate change studies involving aphid behavioural ecology tend to focus on interactions with natural enemies (Hentley & Wade ), but it is possible that mutualistic interactions will be affected too.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and atmospheric change impacts on sap‐feeding herbivores: a mechanistic explanation based on functional groups of primary metabolites

et al. 2016

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Summary Global climate and atmospheric change are widely predicted to affect many ecosystems. Herbivorous insects account for 25% of the planet's species so their responses to environmental change are pivotal to how future ecosystems will function. Atmospheric change affects feeding guilds differently, however, with sap‐feeding herbivores consistently identified as net beneficiaries of predicted increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (eCO2). The mechanistic basis for these effects remains largely unknown, and our understanding about how multiple environmental changes, acting in tandem, shape plant–insect interactions is incomplete. This study investigated how increases in temperature (eT) and eCO2 affected the performance of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) via changes in amino acid concentrations in the model legume, lucerne (Medicago sativa). Aphid performance increased under eCO2 at ambient temperatures, whereby aphid fecundity, longevity, colonization success and rm increased by 42%, 30%, 25% and 21%, respectively. eT negated the positive effects of eCO2 on both fecundity and rm, however, and performance was similar to when aphids were reared at ambient CO2. We identified discrete functional groups of amino acids that underpinned the effects of climate and atmospheric change, in addition to plant genotype, on aphid performance. Effects of eT and eCO2 held true across five M. sativa genotypes, demonstrating the generality of their effects. Combining this knowledge with amino acid profiles of existing cultivars raises the possibility of predicting future susceptibility to aphids and preventing outbreaks of a global pest. Moreover, environmentally induced changes in the nutritional ecology of aphids have the capacity to change life‐history strategies of aphids and their direct and indirect interactions with many other organisms, including mutualists and antagonists. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12715/suppinfo is available for this article.

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“…Aphid species that do not have evolutionary mutualisms with ants are characteristically less susceptible to natural enemies (Bristow, ). If climate change reduces the efficacy of aphid natural enemies via changes in host plant quality (see recent reviews by Boullis, Francis, & Verheggen, ; Hentley & Wade, ), it could cause some aphids to abandon their mutualistic relationship with ants, having said that aphid species that are obligate mutualists may be incapable of abandoning the mutualism because of other functions performed by ants (e.g. removal of honeydew which may otherwise lead to fungal contamination; Way, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations promote ant tending of aphids

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et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Animal mutualisms, which involve beneficial interactions between individuals of different species, are common in nature. Insect-insect mutualism, for example, is widely regarded as a keystone ecological interaction. Some mutualisms are anticipated to be modified by climate change, but the focus has largely been on plant-microbe and plant-animal mutualisms rather than those between animals. Ant-aphid mutualisms, whereby ants tend aphids to harvest their honeydew excretions and, in return, provide protection for the aphids, are widespread. The mutualism is heavily influenced by the quality and quantity of honeydew produced by aphids, which is directly affected by host plant quality. As predicted increases in concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (eCO ) are widely reported to affect plant nutritional chemistry, this may also alter honeydew quality and hence the nature of ant-aphid mutualisms. Using glasshouse chambers and field-based open-top chambers, we determined the effect of eCO on the growth and nutritional quality (foliar amino acids) of lucerne (Medicago sativa). We determined how cowpea aphid (Aphis craccivora) populations and honeydew production were impacted when feeding on such plants and how this affected the tending behaviour of ants (Iridomyrmex sp.). eCO stimulated plant growth but decreased concentrations of foliar amino acids by 29% and 14% on aphid-infested plants and aphid-free plants, respectively. Despite the deterioration in host plant quality under eCO , aphids maintained performance and populations were unchanged by eCO . Aphids induced higher concentrations of amino acids (glutamine, asparagine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid) important for endosymbiont-mediated synthesis of essential amino acids. Aphids feeding under eCO also produced over three times more honeydew than aphids feeding under ambient CO , suggesting they were imbibing more phloem sap at eCO . The frequency of ant tending of aphids more than doubled in response to eCO . To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the effects of atmospheric change on an ant-aphid mutualism. In particular, these results highlight how impending changes to concentrations of atmospheric CO may alter mutualistic behaviour between animals. These could include positive impacts, as reported here, shifts from mutualism to antagonism, partner switches and mutualism abandonment.

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Global Change, Herbivores and Their Natural Enemies

Cited by 8 publications

References 118 publications

Impact of predicted precipitation scenarios on multitrophic interactions

Impact of predicted precipitation scenarios on multitrophic interactions

Climate and atmospheric change impacts on sap‐feeding herbivores: a mechanistic explanation based on functional groups of primary metabolites

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations promote ant tending of aphids

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