Effects of elevated CO2 on five plant-aphid interactions

Citation
L. Hughes et Fa. Bazzaz, Effects of elevated CO2 on five plant-aphid interactions, ENT EXP APP, 99(1), 2001, pp. 87-96
Citations number
32
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Entomology/Pest Control
Journal title
ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA
ISSN journal
0013-8703 → ACNP
Volume
99
Issue
1
Year of publication
2001
Pages
87 - 96
Database
ISI
SICI code
0013-8703(200104)99:1<87:EOECOF>2.0.ZU;2-T
Abstract
We investigated interactions between five species of phloem-feeding aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) and their host plants at elevated CO2; Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) on Vicia faba L., Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe on Ascle pias syriaca L., Aphis oenotherae Oestlund on Oenothera biennis L., Aulacor thum solani (Kaltenbach) on Nicotiana sylvestris Speg. & Comes and Myzus pe rsicae (Sulzer) on Solanum dulcamara L. Host plants grown at elevated CO2 g enerally had greater biomass, leaf area and C:N ratios than those grown at ambient CO2, while plants with aphids had lower biomass and leaf area than those without aphids. The responses of aphid populations to elevated CO2 were species-specific wi th one species increasing (M. persicae), one decreasing (A. pisum), and the other three being unaffected. CO2 treatment did not affect the proportion of alate individuals produced. In general, aphid abundance was not signific antly related to foliar nitrogen concentration. We performed separate analyses to test whether either aphid presence or aph id abundance modified the response of host plants to elevated CO2. In terms of aphid presence, only three of the potential 15 interactions (five aphid species x three plant traits) were significant; A. solani slightly modifie d the response of the plant biomass to elevated CO2 and M. persicae affecte d the response of leaf area and allocation. In terms of aphid abundance, on ly two of the potential 15 interactions were significant with A. nerii modi fying the plant response to CO2 in terms of total leaf area and allocation. We conclude that, in contrast to other insect groups such as leaf chewers, populations of most phloem-feeders may not be negatively affected by increa sed CO2 concentrations in the future. The reasons for this difference inclu de the possibility that aphids may be able to compensate for changes in hos t plant quality by altering feeding behaviour or by synthesizing amino acid s. In addition, there is little evidence that aphid herbivory, even at high levels, will substantially modify the response of plants to elevated CO2.