Premium
Individual growth rates do not predict aphid population densities under altered atmospheric conditions
Author(s) -
Mondor Edward B.,
Awmack Caroline S.,
Lindroth Richard L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
agricultural and forest entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.755
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1461-9563
pISSN - 1461-9555
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2010.00478.x
Subject(s) - aphid , acyrthosiphon pisum , biology , population , intraspecific competition , pisum , botany , aphididae , herbivore , agronomy , ecology , horticulture , pest analysis , homoptera , demography , sociology
1 Altered atmospheric composition, associated with climate change, can modify herbivore population dynamics through CO 2 and/or O 3 ‐mediated changes in plant quality. 2 Although pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum genotypes exhibit intraspecific variation in population growth in response to atmospheric composition, the proximate mechanisms underlying this variation are largely unknown. 3 By rearing single (green, pink) and mixed (green + pink) pea aphid genotypes on red clover Trifolium pratense at the Aspen Free Air CO 2 and O 3 Enrichment (Aspen FACE) site, we assessed whether: (i) elevated CO 2 and/or O 3 concentrations alter aphid growth and development and (ii) individual aphid growth rates predict aphid population densities. 4 We showed that growth and development of individual green and pink aphids were not influenced by CO 2 and/or O 3 concentrations when reared as individual or mixed genotypes. Individual growth rates, however, did not predict population densities. 5 Reared as a single genotype, green pea aphid populations decreased in response to elevated CO 2 concentrations, but not in response to elevated CO 2 + O 3 concentrations. Pink pea aphid populations reared as a single genotype were unaffected by augmented CO 2 or O 3 . Populations of mixed genotypes, however, were reduced under elevated CO 2 concentrations, irrespective of O 3 concentrations. 6 Herbivore population sizes may not readily be predicted from growth rates of individual organisms under atmospheric conditions associated with global climate change.