Abstract
Simple SummaryClimate change and extreme weather events have a major impact on crop production and agricultural pests. As generally adaptable organisms, insect pests respond differently to different causes of climate change. In this review, we address the effects of rising temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels, as well as changing precipitation patterns, on agricultural insect pests. Since temperature is the most important environmental factor affecting insect population dynamics, it is expected that global climate warming could trigger an expansion of their geographic range, increased overwintering survival, increased number of generations, increased risk of invasive insect species and insect-transmitted plant diseases, as well as changes in their interaction with host plants and natural enemies. As climate change exacerbates the pest problem, there is a great need for future pest management strategies. These include monitoring climate and pest populations, modified integrated pest management strategies, and the use of modelling prediction tools which are presented here.Climate change and global warming are of great concern to agriculture worldwide and are among the most discussed issues in today’s society. Climate parameters such as increased temperatures, rising atmospheric CO2 levels, and changing precipitation patterns have significant impacts on agricultural production and on agricultural insect pests. Changes in climate can affect insect pests in several ways. They can result in an expansion of their geographic distribution, increased survival during overwintering, increased number of generations, altered synchrony between plants and pests, altered interspecific interaction, increased risk of invasion by migratory pests, increased incidence of insect-transmitted plant diseases, and reduced effectiveness of biological control, especially natural enemies. As a result, there is a serious risk of crop economic losses, as well as a challenge to human food security. As a major driver of pest population dynamics, climate change will require adaptive management strategies to deal with the changing status of pests. Several priorities can be identified for future research on the effects of climatic changes on agricultural insect pests. These include modified integrated pest management tactics, monitoring climate and pest populations, and the use of modelling prediction tools.
Highlights
Throughout history, human population growth has been accompanied by many changes in everyday life, culture, technology, science, the economy, and agricultural production
As ambient temperatures generally increase toward optimal temperatures for growth and development of many insect pest species, potentially reducing thermal constraints on population dynamics, the severity of pest infestations is expected to increase under global warming scenarios [57]
We have described the effects of climate change on various insect pests, some of which act as vectors of viruses
Summary
Throughout history, human population growth has been accompanied by many changes in everyday life, culture, technology, science, the economy, and agricultural production. The exceptional population growth in the last 100 years has had many undesirable consequences that (along with changes in environmental conditions) impact the security of the food supply. Changes in precipitation patterns may potentially have higher importance than temperature rise, especially in areas where dry seasons present a limiting factor for agricultural production [3]. This paper will review the impact of some of the predicted climate changes, especially the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperatures along with changeable precipitation pattern effects on the biology and ecology of harmful insects, especially invasive pest species, which can be a major problem in crop production. Potential solutions for the current issues in plant production will be presented, mostly in the form of modified integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, which include IPM and the production of healthy food in an environmentally friendly way as well the monitoring techniques and modelling prediction tools
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