Niche shifts and the potential distribution of Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) under climate change.

Qing Zhao,Wanqing Zhao,Jiufeng Wei,Hufang Zhang,Yulin Gao

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0180913

Qing Zhao, Wanqing Zhao + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180913

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Abstract

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a serious invasive species that significantly damages plants of approximately 60 families around the world. It is originally from North America and has also been introduced to other continents. Our goals were to create a current and future potential global distribution map for this pest under climate change with MaxEnt software. We tested the hypothesis of niche conservatism for P. solenopsis by comparing its native niche in North America to its invasive niches on other continents using Principal components analyses (PCA) in R. The potentially suitable habitat for P. solenopsis in its native and non-native ranges is presented in the present paper. The results suggested that the mean temperature of the wettest quarter and the mean temperature of the driest quarter are the most important environmental variables determining the potential distribution of P. solenopsis. We found strong evidence for niche shifts in the realized climatic niche of this pest in South America and Australia due to niche unfilling; however, a niche shift in the realized climatic niche of this pest in Eurasian owing to niche expansion.

Highlights

With rapidly increasing global trade and human movement, the rate of introductions has remarkable accelerated around the world [1]
The suitable habit areas for P. solenopsis were reclassified into four levels: unsuitable habitat (
The cotton mealybug is native to North America and has already invaded to other continents around the world

Summary

Introduction

With rapidly increasing global trade and human movement, the rate of introductions has remarkable accelerated around the world [1]. Climate change is another important factor that affects the expansion of invasive species [2,3]. Considerable evidence suggests that climate change will aggravate the impacts of invasive species naturalization and subsequent invasion across communities and ecosystems in their new ranges, thereby resulting in threats to the biodiversity of native species [4,5] and the degradation of ecosystem [6], casuging significant economic losses [7,8].

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