The impact of climate change on wheat insect pests: current knowledge and future trends

Abstract

Climate change and insect pests: the global perspective 2 Cereal aphids 3 Vector-borne plant viruses 4 Hessian fl y and orange wheat blossom midge 5 Cereal leaf beetle, cotton bollworm and other pest species affecting wheat 6 Climate change effects on biological pest control in wheat systems 7 Other considerations: interaction of stress factors, extreme events and pest behaviour 8 Conclusions 9 Where to look for further information 10 Acknowledgements 11 References 1 Climate change and insect pests: the global perspective Historical trends and models suggest that sustained wheat production will be more diffi cult under projected climate change (Asseng et al., 2014; Challinor et al., 2014; Wilcox and Makowski, 2014). Unfortunately, these projections are limited in that they do not incorporate constraints on production from diseases, weeds and insect pests. Incorporating these factors is a signifi cant challenge because information is limited. For insect pests, although trends noted for insects in general (e.g. Parmesan and al, 1999; Parmesan and Yohe, 2003; Parmesan, 2006; Bebber, 2015) might apply, specifi cs will vary widely because the potentially contributing mechanisms are diverse. These include changes to survival rates in winter and summer, population growth rates, shifts in phenology and changes in interspecifi c interactions (Kiritani, 2013). Effects that can Chapter 42_Wheat V1.indd 1 Chapter 42_Wheat V1.

Promises and challenges in insect–plant interactions

“…Gene drive has been proposed to help save endangered species like birds (Esvelt et al, 2014), eradicate unwanted species like mosquitoes, or more simply to eliminate 'bad' traits from a species, such as the ability to transmit human diseases, such as malaria or dengue. One of these Expert Working Groups ('Control of wheat pathogens and pests') recently released an overview of diverse wheat pests (arthropods, nematodes, and rodents), prospects for new pest management technologies, the impact of climate change on wheat insect pests, and wheat pest management case studies in New Zealand and Australia (Eigenbrode & Macfadyen, 2017;Harris et al, 2017a,b;Horrocks et al, 2017). 5 To join research communities assembling around valued plant species.…”

Challenges and Responses to Ongoing and Projected Climate Change for Dryland Cereal Production Systems throughout the World

“…For example, Trebicki et al found that under these conditions barley yellow dwarf virus will spread more quickly in infected wheat crops [99]. Globally, research on insect pests of wheat under climate change remains limited despite the potential of pests to reduce yields and increase yield variability [100].…”

Confronting Climate Change Challenges to Dryland Cereal Production: A Call for Collaborative, Transdisciplinary Research, and Producer Engagement

“…Projections for cereal production systems under climate change typically are constructed without considering associated changes in pressure from insect pests, weeds and diseases (Coakley et al, 1999;Garrett et al, 2006Garrett et al, , 2014Juroszek and Von Tiedemann, 2013;Eigenbrode and Macfadyen, 2017). Attempts to incorporate disease and insect effects into model projections presents challenges because responses by individual pests, weeds, and diseases can arise from direct effects on agent physiology, behavior, and phenology that influence geographic range, reproduction and mortality impacts (Juroszek and Von Tiedemann, 2015).…”

“…A review of worldwide research on insect pests of wheat and climate change (Eigenbrode and Macfadyen, 2017) found research addressing only a dozen species, most of which had only been studied using a particular approach such as niche modeling, chamber studies, empirical study, and population modeling. For pathogens, the incidence, effectiveness of resistance genes and multispecies interactions are all liable to change in response to climate induced stress.…”

“…Needs for research and action to address knowledge gaps concerning pests and climate change in cereal systems include obtaining additional long-term records of pest abundance or pest injury and coupling these with historical climate records, incorporating pests and natural enemies into niche overlap and phenological models, and focusing on mechanisms that employ complementary, comprehensive approaches for understanding the aggregate impact of individual pest, weed, and disease species on future crop productivity (Eigenbrode and Macfadyen, 2017). Although the importance of incorporating plant protection into whole system management is evident, achieving increased integration remains a significant challenge.…”