Abstract

Parasitoids are a significant mortality factor in the population dynamics of many arthropods involved in key ecological processes such as herbivore-plant and predator-prey interactions. Parasitoids are therefore widely used in biocontrol programs. Global change phenomena influence these natural and anthropocentric roles of parasitoids and here we review the effects of the main drivers and their interplay. Land use intensification modifies landscape structure and elevates agroecosystem loads of fertilisers and pesticides creating risks for parasitism and loss of biocontrol services. Climate change can affect parasitoids directly, affecting physiology and survival, or indirectly via phenological and other effects (plant chemistry, herbivore-induced plant volatiles HIPVs) on their hosts, endosymbionts and plants. Biological invasions have the potential to modify native host-parasitoid systems and elevate risk of novel pest dynamics, requiring restoration of biocontrol. The interplay between these global change drivers may thus exacerbate the overall risk to parasitism in future agricultural landscapes. To make more accurate predictions, future studies could focus on the impact of interacting global change drivers on parasitoids and the biocontrol services they provide. Moreover, host and parasitoid specificity appear to be a key driver in assessing the effects of global change on parasitoids.

Highlights

  • The magnitude, spatial extent and rapidity of current environmental changes is unprecedented

  • Given the magnitude of global change phenomena, and the importance of parasitoids in the natural world and in biological pest control, here we review the literature to assess the likely impacts of land use intensification, climate change and biological invasions to predict likely community- and individual-level effects on host-parasitoid interactions and biocontrol

  • Our review shows that parasitism and biocontrol services in future landscapes are highly likely to be impacted by global change drivers

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

The magnitude, spatial extent and rapidity of current environmental changes is unprecedented. Given the magnitude of global change phenomena, and the importance of parasitoids in the natural world and in biological pest control, here we review the literature to assess the likely impacts of land use intensification, climate change and biological invasions to predict likely community- and individual-level effects on host-parasitoid interactions and biocontrol. As a consequence, where these practices are extended to a large number of fields, the entire landscape will be modified with widespread conversion of perennial and natural habitat to crops, habitat fragmentation and loss of landscape complexity in space and time (Tscharntke et al 2005) This correlation between local practice and landscape simplification means it is important to consider the effect of agricultural intensification on pests, parasitoids and their interactions. Images sourced from thenounproject.com (CC-BY: Carpe Diem; Megan Strickland; Phạm Thanh Lộc; Yu luck) and following websites: monsafety.wordpress.com; morningagclips.com; https://www.google.fr/maps/

Impact of pesticides
Impact of nutrient inputs
Landscape simplification
Effect of habitat composition simplification on parasitoids
Synthesis and perspectives
Plant- and host-mediated impacts of climate change on parasitoids
Endosymbiont-mediated impacts of climate change on parasitoids
Community structure and species interactions
Impacts of climate change on phenology
Impacts of climate change on species distributions
Climate change interacting with land use change intensification
Is specificity of organisms the key?
Findings
CONCLUSION
Full Text
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