| Title: | Natural enemies partially compensate for warming induced excess herbivory in an organic growth system |
| Author(s): | Beleznai O; Dreyer J; Toth Z; Samu F; |
| Address: | "Department of Zoology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Nagykovacsi ut 26-30, H-1029, Hungary. beleznai.orsolya@agrar.mta.hu. Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, S-225 Ag Science Center N Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0091, USA. Lendulet Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Herman Otto ut 15, H-1022, Hungary. Department of Zoology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Nagykovacsi ut 26-30, H-1029, Hungary" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-017-07509-w |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Predators can limit prey abundance and/or levels of activity. The magnitudes of these effects are contingent on predator and prey traits that may change with environmental conditions. Aberrant thermal regimes could disrupt pest suppression through asymmetric effects, e.g. heat-sensitive predator vs. heat-tolerant prey. To explore potential effects of warming on suppressing pests and controlling herbivory in a vegetable crop, we performed laboratory experiments exposing an important pest species to two spider predator species at different temperatures. Heat tolerance was characterised by the critical thermal maxima parameter (CTM50) of the cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata), wolf spider (Tigrosa helluo), and nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira). Cucumber beetles and wolf spiders were equally heat tolerant (CTM50 > 40 degrees C), but nursery web spiders had limited heat tolerance (CTM50 = 34 degrees C). Inside mesocosms, beetle feeding increased with temperature, wolf spiders were always effective predators, nursery web spiders were less lethal at high temperature (38 degrees C). Neither spider species reduced herbivory at ambient temperature (22 degrees C), however, at warm temperature both species reduced herbivory with evidence of a dominant non-consumptive effect. Our experiments highlight the contingent nature of predator-prey interactions and suggest that non-consumptive effects should not be ignored when assessing the impact of temperature change" |
| Keywords: | Animals Coleoptera Cucurbita *Herbivory *Predatory Behavior Spiders Temperature; |
| Notes: | "MedlineBeleznai, Orsolya Dreyer, Jamin Toth, Zoltan Samu, Ferenc eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2017/08/06 Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 4; 7(1):7266. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07509-w" |
