The effects of drought stress and type of fertiliser on generalist and specialist herbivores and their natural enemies

Shehzad, Muhammad; Gulzar, Asim; Staley, Joanna T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6467-3712; Tariq, Muhammad. 2021 The effects of drought stress and type of fertiliser on generalist and specialist herbivores and their natural enemies [in special issue: Plants under attack: surviving the stress] Annals of Applied Biology, 178 (2). 377-386. https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12654

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text
N528759JA.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Download (1MB) | Preview

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12654

Abstract/Summary

Abiotic stresses such as drought and nutrient availability can affect invertebrate herbivores feeding on plants, and potentially cascade up to impact their predators and parasitoids. Although these two factors separately been the subject of many studies, there are few tests of their combined effects in the context of pest species and their natural enemies on cultivated plants. Climate change models predict an increase in the frequency and severity of droughts, while the type and amount of fertiliser applied to crops is more under the control of growers. Understanding how these two abiotic factors may interact is key to utilising the potential of natural enemies to control pests under a future climate. To address this, a range of drought and fertiliser type treatments were applied to a model Brassica system in a factorial design, and the performance of two ubiquitous aphid species and their parasitoids was assessed. One aphid species was a specialist on Brassicas (Brevicoryne brassicae, with parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae) and the second a generalist aphid species (Myzus persicae, with parasitoid Aphidius colemani). The performance of both aphid species responded in a similar way to the treatments, and was maximised on plants growing in organic fertilisers under medium levels of drought stress. The strongest effects of drought and fertiliser cascaded up to affect parasitoids. Parasitoid performance responded in a broadly similar way to their aphid host performance in relation to fertiliser type. Some of the smaller effects of fertiliser treatments on aphid performance were not found for parasitoid performance. Aphid performance was greatest on plants under medium drought stress, but the parasitoids only responded consistently to the high drought stress treatment, on which their performance was reduced. Interactions between the drought and fertiliser did not have a large effect on aphid or parasitoid performance, compared with the strong main effects found for each treatment. These results are discussed in the context of previous and future research on the impacts of abiotic stresses on invertebrate herbivores and their natural enemies.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12654
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0003-4746
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	aphids, brassicas, climate change, parasitoids, plant-insect interactions
NORA Subject Terms:	Biology and Microbiology
Date made live:	22 Oct 2020 11:59 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528759

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12654

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0003-4746

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

aphids, brassicas, climate change, parasitoids, plant-insect interactions