The effect of climate manipulations on the herbivory of the pest slug Deroceras reticulatum (Müller, 1774) (Pulmonata: Agriolimacidae)

Abstract

The pestiferous status of the terrestrial slug Deroceras reticulatum and the strong dependence of its biology and ecology on climatic factors have driven research on the potential responses of the slug to predicted scenarios of climate change. Here, we report two short-term experiments performed outdoors, under seminatural conditions, to assess the behavioural response of D. reticulatum to different climate manipulations in terms of herbivory, by measuring over 7 days the damage inflicted by slug populations to lettuce seedlings. The climate manipulations tested emulate predicted climatic conditions for northwest Spain, specifically winter warming and increased summer rainfall, in contrast respectively with normal winter conditions and summer without rain conditions. In a winter experiment, we compared a normal winter treatment with a winter warming treatment; with respect to the normal winter treatment, the winter warming treatment was characterised by higher temperature, lower relative humidity and the absence of rainfall. In a summer experiment, we compared a summer drought treatment with an increased summer rainfall treatment; with respect to the summer drought treatment, the increased summer rainfall treatment was characterised by the presence of rainfall, while the conditions of temperature and relative humidity were similar in both treatments. Neither winter warming nor increased summer rainfall did lead to a significant increase on the number of seedlings damaged by the slugs. However, with both treatments, we found a moderate increase on the amount of damage suffered by the seedlings. The results are discussed in the context of the potential responses of D. reticulatum to future climatic conditions.

Occurrence of the invasive Spanish slug in gardens: can a citizen science approach help deciphering underlying factors?

“…The finding that the sum of the mean daily temperature from the sampling year (smetcy), the sum of the daily mean temperature of the year previous to data collection (smetpy) and the number of frost days from the previous winter (frostwint) influence slug abundance in gardens also supports the results of previous studies [ 18 , 21 , 23 , 55 ], although in some respects other than expected:…”

Performance of the slug parasitic nematode <i>Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita</i> under predicted conditions of winter warming

“…In experiments performed in the absence of nematodes and over 1 week, but with climate treatments similar to those reported here, 15) D. reticulatum caused greater damage to lettuce plants under winter warming conditions (mean temperature±SE=12.7±0.02°C, n=7) than under normal winter conditions (8.6±0.47°C). In the experiment reported here, the damage caused by D. reticulatum to lettuce plants over 3 weeks in the absence of nematodes was consistently higher in the WW treatment (mean temperature±SE=14.2±0.13°C, n=21) than in the NW treatment (9.7±0.36°C), although the differences were not significant.…”

Predation by polyphagous carabid beetles on eggs of a pest slug: Potential implications of climate change

“…This reflects that small slugs are more likely to escape predation under field conditions because they have access to a great number and diversity of refugia, as shown by Mckemey, Symondson, and Glen (), compared to non‐motile eggs. El‐Danasoury, Iglesias‐Piñeiro, and Córdoba () did not find differences in the survival of eggs and hatchling of D. reticulatum exposed to H . rufipes in choice experiments in Petri dishes.…”

“…Indeed, forecasting the responses of organisms and ecological relationships between organisms to future climatic conditions is difficult. There exists some experimental evidence that slug damage by D. reticulatum may increase under predicted conditions of climate warming (El-Danasoury et al, 2016).…”

“…Indeed, forecasting the responses of organisms and ecological relationships between organisms to future climatic conditions is difficult. There exists some experimental evidence that slug damage by D. reticulatum may increase under predicted conditions of climate warming (El‐Danasoury et al., ). Also, a modelling study in the UK (Willis et al., ) predicted a northwards shift in the habitable range of the slug, besides changes in abundance and population dynamics that include increased numbers of generations and population peaks in the new suitable areas and changes in the timing of these events.…”