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- Title
Elevated CO<sub>2</sub> concentration improves the performance of an agricultural pest: a worrisome climate crisis scenario.
- Authors
Arantes‐Garcia, Lucas; Maia, Renata A.; Oki, Yumi; Cornelissen, Tatiana; Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson
- Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are central to the climate crisis and their consequences indiscriminately affect natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. Among ecological interactions, those between plants and insects are among the most impacted by the elevation in CO2 concentration (eCO2). We selected a plant and an herbivore species of worldwide relevance and tested the hypothesis that eCO2 affects leaf quality and defences of sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae), and negatively impacts the larval preference and performance of the important pest Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Plants and insects developed inside open‐top chambers under ambient CO2 (ca. 400 ppm) and eCO2 (ca. 800 ppm). Sunflowers under eCO2 grew more (e.g., increased height and had more leaves) but were of lower nutritional quality at an early developmental stage (e.g., lower nitrogen content, greater leaf thickness, and higher flavonoids content). Despite showing no preference for either treatment, H. armigera larvae performed better when fed with leaves from eCO2 plants. We argue this was observed because larvae under eCO2 sustained a greater leaf consumption, even when sunflower leaf quality became similar between treatments (by the 11th week after germination). Besides, they overcompensated a more deficient diet during early developmental stages and presented a higher growth rate; ca. 2.5× more individuals reached the pupal stage, and 4× more individuals became adults. The improvement in H. armigera larval performance under eCO2 indicates a worrisome scenario in which a species that already exerts a significant impact on ecosystems would increase its consumption, develop faster, and support a larger population size.
- Subjects
AGRICULTURAL pests; COMMON sunflower; HELICOVERPA armigera; INSECT-plant relationships; HELIOTHIS zea; LARVAE; SUNFLOWERS; SUNFLOWER seeds
- Publication
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 2021, Vol 169, Issue 12, p1068
- ISSN
0013-8703
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/eea.13113