How General are Aphid Responses to Elevated Atmospheric Co2?

Effects of different atmospheric CO2 concentrations and soil moistures on the populations of bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) feeding on spring wheat

“…The observation that, under normal soil water conditions, the population size of bird cherry-oat aphid increased with raised CO2 concentration was consistent with several previous reports (Smith, 1996;Awmack et al, 1996Awmack et al, , 1997, but did differ from some other reports (Thompson et al, 1993;Docherty et al, 1997;Diaz et al, 1998;Bezemer et al, 1999;Newman et al, 1999;Hughes & Bazzaz, 2001). Bezemer et al (1999) found that the response of aphids to CO2 concentration was influenced by host plant and aphid species. Newman's experiment and the present results also support this conclusion.…”

“…There is a substantial body of research focusing on the effects of elevated CO2 on plant-herbivore interactions, including leaf-chewers (Lindroth et al, 1993;Wu, 1993;Watt et al, 1995;Kinney et al, 1997;Brooks & Whit taker, 1998;Cannon, 1998;Roth et al, 1998;Wang, 1999;Peters et al, 2000;David et al, 2001), sap-suckers (Tripp et al, 1992;Awmack et al, 1996Awmack et al, , 1997Smith, 1996;Docherty et al, 1997;Bezemer et al, , 1999Cannon, 1998;Diaz et al, 1998;Brooks & Whittaker, 1999;Newman et al, 1999;Joutei et al, 2000;Hughes & Bazzaz 2001), and leaf-miners Smith & Jones, 1998). Larvae of leaf-chewers show poor perform ances under elevated CO2 concentrations, but the per formance of leaf-suckers does not always follow this trend .…”

Individual growth rates do not predict aphid population densities under altered atmospheric conditions

“…The mechanisms underlying these altered life-history patterns are yet to be understood, although research continues aiming to better understand the phenomena. Altered genotype by environment interactions complicates our predictive abilities of herbivore population dynamics (Leather, 1988;Bezemer et al, 1999;Awmack et al, 2005). If other species respond similarly, we can conclude that interactions among genotypes are likely to intensify the effects of future atmospheres on insect population dynamics.…”

“…Elevated CO 2 and O 3 atmospheres typically have opposing effects on plant productivity (Makino & Mae, 1999;Krupa et al, 2001), with elevated CO 2 tending to ameliorate the negative effects of elevated O 3 on plants (Heagle et al, 1998;Dickson et al, 1998;Donnelly et al, 2000;Percy et al, 2002 Global change may alter not only the relative abundance and fitness of plant genotypes (Van der Kooij et al, 2000;Lindroth et al, 2001;Castells et al, 2002;Goverde et al, 2002;McDonald et al, 2002), but also the performance of higher trophic levels through CO 2 -and O 3 -mediated shifts in plant quality (Kangasjärvi et al, 1994;Brown, 1995;Bezemer et al, 1999;Valkama et al, 2007). Evidence would suggest that insect genotypes differ in their ability to tolerate the effects of climate change (Rank & Dahlhoff, 2002;Balanyá et al, 2006), although it is important to discount any maternal effects (sensu Rossiter, 1991).…”

Aphid response to elevated ozone and CO2

“…Phyllaphis fagi on beech showed decreased fecundity and nymphs were smaller at elevated CO 2 while Drepanosiphum platanoides and Periphyllus testudinaceus on sycamore were not affected by elevated CO 2 . Bezemer et al (1999) speculated about the reasons for variability in aphid species responses to elevated CO 2 and suggested environmental conditions, e.g., nutrient availability and light conditions could affect plant response to elevated CO 2 , which in turn is reflected upon aphid performance. Moreover differential feeding behaviour of generalist aphid species and species specialised on one or a few plant genus could result in variation in responses.…”