Shifted phenology in the pine processionary moth affects the outcome of tree–insect interaction

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Rocha ◽  
M.C. Caldeira ◽  
C. Burban ◽  
C. Kerdelhué ◽  
M. Branco
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Soluble Sugars ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Thaumetopoea Pityocampa ◽  
Pine Processionary Moth ◽  
Adaptation Mechanisms ◽  
Hydric Stress ◽  
Tree Stress

AbstractIn the Mediterranean and temperate regions, an increase in the frequency and intensity of drought events has been recorded, probably due to climate change. In consequence, trees will more frequently experience hydric stress, a condition that can be expected to affect insect–tree interactions, while adaptation mechanisms may be further in course. The effect of tree water stress on the performance of two allochronic populations of Thaumetopoea pityocampa was here studied. Namely, we compared a unique population of this insect, in which the larvae develop in the summer (SP), with the typical population having winter larval development (WP), to test the adaptation hypothesis to host plant status. Larvae of each population were fed on needles of young potted Pinus pinaster plants under two water supply regimes: (i) well-watered (control) and (ii) subjected to 3 months of drought stress. Compared to control, stressed plants had higher amounts of soluble sugars, phenols, and higher C/N ratio, whereas water content and chlorophylls concentrations were lower. In general, T. pityocampa larvae had lower performances on water-stressed plants, as shown by lower survival rates, lower needle consumption, and longer development times. Yet, the detrimental effects of tree stress were only significant for the WP larvae, while SP larvae were able to overcome such conditions. Results demonstrate that tree water stress can negatively affect T. pityocampa populations. Furthermore, the evidence is also provided that responses to the physiological condition of the host trees may occur at the population level, as a result of adaptation mechanisms driven by climate change.

scholarly journals Quantifying climate change impacts emphasises the importance of managing regional threats in the endangered Yellow-eyed penguin

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mattern ◽  
Stefan Meyer ◽  
Ursula Ellenberg ◽  
David M. Houston ◽  
John T. Darby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Climate Factors

AbstractClimate change is a global issue with effects that are difficult to manage at a regional scale. Yet more often than not climate factors are just some of multiple stressors affecting species on a population level. Non-climatic factors - especially those of anthropogenic origins - may play equally important roles with regard to impacts on species and are often more feasible to address. Here we assess the influence of climate change on population trends of the endangered Yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) over the last 30 years, using a Bayesian model. Sea surface temperature (SST) proved to be the dominating factor influencing survival of both adult birds and fledglings. Increasing SST since the mid-1990s was accompanied by a reduction in survival rates and population decline. The population model showed that 33% of the variation in population numbers could be explained by SST alone, significantly increasing pressure on the penguin population. Consequently, the population becomes less resilient to non-climate related impacts, such as fisheries interactions, habitat degradation and human disturbance. However, the extent of the contribution of these factors to declining population trends is extremely difficult to assess principally due to the absence of quantifiable data, creating a discussion bias towards climate variables, and effectively distracting from non-climate factors that can be managed on a regional scale to ensure the viability of the population.

scholarly journals Quantifying climate change impacts emphasises the importance of managing regional threats in the endangered Yellow-eyed penguin

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mattern ◽  
Stefan Meyer ◽  
Ursula Ellenberg ◽  
David M. Houston ◽  
John T. Darby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Climate Factors

Climate change is a global issue with effects that are difficult to manage at a regional scale. Yet more often than not climate factors are just some of multiple stressors affecting species on a population level. Non-climatic factors—especially those of anthropogenic origins—may play equally important roles with regard to impacts on species and are often more feasible to address. Here we assess the influence of climate change on population trends of the endangered Yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) over the last 30 years, using a Bayesian model. Sea surface temperature (SST) proved to be the dominating factor influencing survival of both adult birds and fledglings. Increasing SST since the mid-1990s was accompanied by a reduction in survival rates and population decline. The population model showed that 33% of the variation in population numbers could be explained by SST alone, significantly increasing pressure on the penguin population. Consequently, the population becomes less resilient to non-climate related impacts, such as fisheries interactions, habitat degradation and human disturbance. However, the extent of the contribution of these factors to declining population trends is extremely difficult to assess principally due to the absence of quantifiable data, creating a discussion bias towards climate variables, and effectively distracting from non-climate factors that can be managed on a regional scale to ensure the viability of the population.

scholarly journals Impacts of Climate Change Interacting Abiotic Factors on Growth, aflD and aflR Gene Expression and Aflatoxin B1 Production by Aspergillus flavus Strains In Vitro and on Pistachio Nuts

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 385
Author(s):  
Alaa Baazeem ◽  
Alicia Rodriguez ◽  
Angel Medina ◽  
Naresh Magan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Gene Expression ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Aspergillus Flavus ◽  
Aflatoxin B1 ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Pistachio Nuts ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spoilage Fungi

Pistachio nuts are an important economic tree nut crop which is used directly or processed for many food-related activities. They can become colonized by mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus, mainly resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). The prevailing climate in which these crops are grown changes as temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels increase, and episodes of extreme wet/dry cycles occur due to human industrial activity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of interacting Climate Change (CC)-related abiotic factors of temperature (35 vs. 37 °C), CO2 (400 vs. 1000 ppm), and water stress (0.98–0.93 water activity, aw) on (a) growth (b) aflD and aflR biosynthetic gene expression and (c) AFB1 production by two strains A. flavus (AB3, AB10) in vitro on milled pistachio-based media and when colonizing layers of shelled raw pistachio nuts. The A. flavus strains were resilient in terms of growth on pistachio-based media and the colonisation of pistachio nuts with no significant difference when exposed to the interacting three-way climate-related abiotic factors. However, in vitro studies showed that AFB1 production was significantly stimulated (p < 0.05), especially when exposed to 1000 ppm CO2 at 0.98–0.95 aw and 35 °C, and sometimes in the 37 °C treatment group at 0.98 aw. The relative expression of the structural aflD gene involved in AFB1 biosynthesis was decreased or only slightly increased, relative to the control conditions at elevated CO, regardless of the aw level examined. For the regulatory aflR gene expression, there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in 1000 ppm CO2 and 37 °C for both strains, especially at 0.95 aw. The in situ colonization of pistachio nuts resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) stimulation of AFB1 production at 35 °C and 1000 ppm CO2 for both strains, especially at 0.98 aw. At 37 °C, AFB1 production was either decreased, in strain AB3, or remained similar, as in strain AB10, when exposed to 1000 ppm CO2. This suggests that CC factors may have a differential effect, depending on the interacting conditions of temperature, exposure to CO2 and the level of water stress on AFB1 production.

scholarly journals Warming Arctic summers unlikely to increase productivity of shorebirds through renesting

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah T. Saalfeld ◽  
Brooke L. Hill ◽  
Christine M. Hunter ◽  
Charles J. Frost ◽  
Richard B. Lanctot
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Phenological Mismatch ◽  
Daily Survival ◽  
Adequate Food

AbstractClimate change in the Arctic is leading to earlier summers, creating a phenological mismatch between the hatching of insectivorous birds and the availability of their invertebrate prey. While phenological mismatch would presumably lower the survival of chicks, climate change is also leading to longer, warmer summers that may increase the annual productivity of birds by allowing adults to lay nests over a longer period of time, replace more nests that fail, and provide physiological relief to chicks (i.e., warmer temperatures that reduce thermoregulatory costs). However, there is little information on how these competing ecological processes will ultimately impact the demography of bird populations. In 2008 and 2009, we investigated the survival of chicks from initial and experimentally-induced replacement nests of arcticola Dunlin (Calidris alpina) breeding near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. We monitored survival of 66 broods from 41 initial and 25 replacement nests. Based on the average hatch date of each group, chick survival (up to age 15 days) from replacement nests (Ŝi = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.02–0.22) was substantially lower than initial nests (Ŝi = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.48–0.81). Daily survival rates were greater for older chicks, chicks from earlier-laid clutches, and during periods of greater invertebrate availability. As temperature was less important to daily survival rates of shorebird chicks than invertebrate availability, our results indicate that any physiological relief experienced by chicks will likely be overshadowed by the need for adequate food. Furthermore, the processes creating a phenological mismatch between hatching of shorebird young and invertebrate emergence ensures that warmer, longer breeding seasons will not translate into abundant food throughout the longer summers. Thus, despite having a greater opportunity to nest later (and potentially replace nests), young from these late-hatching broods will likely not have sufficient food to survive. Collectively, these results indicate that warmer, longer summers in the Arctic are unlikely to increase annual recruitment rates, and thus unable to compensate for low adult survival, which is typically limited by factors away from the Arctic-breeding grounds.

Interactions between pupae of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) and parasitoids in a Pinus forest

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 621-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.P. Bonsignore ◽  
F. Manti ◽  
E. Castiglione
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Thaumetopoea Pityocampa ◽  
Parasitoid Species ◽  
Pine Processionary Moth ◽  
Processionary Moth ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Forest Lepidoptera

AbstractParasitoids are significant enemies of many economically important insects and there is some evidence to suggest that their actions have a role in terminating the outbreaks of forest Lepidoptera populations. In this study, we examined the impact of parasitoids on the pupae of the pine processionary moth, and highlighted the presence of several parasitoid species for this developmental stage. A higher rate of parasitism was found when the pupal density in the soil was reduced, but the rate of parasitism was not influenced by pupal morphological traits or by the presence or absence of a cocoon around a pupa. Of the external factors examined, a delay in the time of descent of larvae from the trees had a positive effect on the level of parasitism. Observational data indicated that dipteran and hymenopteran were the most abundant parasitoids to emerge from moth pupae. Our study highlights the complexity of the parasitoid–host dynamics, and stresses the importance of carefully determining environmental effects on host–parasitoid relations.

scholarly journals Bats from different foraging guilds prey upon the pine processionary moth

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inazio Garin ◽  
Joxerra Aihartza ◽  
Urtzi Goiti ◽  
Aitor Arrizabalaga-Escudero ◽  
Jesús Nogueras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Thaumetopoea Pityocampa ◽  
Forest Pest ◽  
Pine Processionary Moth ◽  
Processionary Moth ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Dispersal Behavior ◽  
Foraging Guilds ◽  
Typical Prey

Outbreaks of the processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), a forest pest from the Palearctic, are thought to induce a behavioral response of bats, but up to now the moth has been seldom identified as bats’ prey. Studies on bat diets suggest moths with cyclical outbreaks attract a wide array of bat species from different foraging guilds. We test whether bats feed upon T. pityocampa in the Iberian Peninsula irrespective of the predator’s ecological and morphological features. We found that seven out of ten bat species belonging to different foraging guilds contained T. pityocampa DNA in their faeces and no difference was found in the foraging frequency among foraging guilds. A different size of the typical prey or the lack of fondness for moths can explain the absence of the pest in some bat species. Moreover, the intraspecific foraging frequency of T. pityocampa also changed with the sampling site likely representing differential availability of the moth. Lack of information on flight and dispersal behavior or the tympanate nature of the adult moth complicates understanding how different foraging guilds of bats prey upon the same prey. Our data suggests that T. pityocampa is a remarkable food source for many thousands of individual bats in the study area and we anticipate that more bats besides the species studied here are consuming this moth.

scholarly journals Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Water Governance and the Mitigation of Climate Change Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilham Ali ◽  
Jay Famiglietti ◽  
Jonathan McLelland
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Water Issues

Water stress in both surface and groundwater supplies is an increasing environmental and sustainable management issue. According to the UN Environment Program, at current depletion rates almost half of the world's population will suffer severe water stress by 2030. This is further exacerbated by climate change effects which are altering the hydrologic cycle. Understanding climate change implications is critical to planning for water management scenarios as situations such as rising sea levels, increasing severity of storms, prolonged drought in many regions, ocean acidification, and flooding due to snowmelt and heavy precipitation continue. Today, major efforts towards equitable water management and governance are needed. This study adopts the broad, holistic lenses of sustainable development and water diplomacy, acknowledging both the complex and transboundary nature of water issues, to assess the benefits of a “science to policy” approach in water governance. Such negotiations and frameworks are predicated on the availability of timely and uniform data to bolster water management plans, which can be provided by earth-observing satellite missions. In recent decades, significant advances in satellite remote sensing technology have provided unprecedented data of the Earth’s water systems, including information on changes in groundwater storage, mass loss of snow caps, evaporation of surface water reservoirs, and variations in precipitation patterns. In this study, specific remote sensing missions are surveyed (i.e. NASA LANDSAT, GRACE, SMAP, CYGNSS, and SWOT) to understand the breadth of data available for water uses and the implications of these advances for water management. Results indicate historical precedent where remote sensing data and technologies have been successfully integrated to achieve more sustainable water management policy and law, such as in the passage of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. In addition, many opportunities exist in current transboundary and interstate water conflicts (for example, the Nile Basin and the Tri-State Water Wars between Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) to integrate satellite-remote-sensed water data as a means of “joint-fact finding” and basis for further negotiations. The authors argue that expansion of access to satellite remote sensing data of water for the general public, stakeholders, and policy makers would have a significant impact on the development of science-oriented water governance measures and increase awareness of water issues by significant amounts. Barriers to entry exist in accessing many satellite datasets because of prerequisite knowledge and expertise in the domain. More user-friendly platforms need to be developed in order to maximize the utility of present satellite data. Furthermore, sustainable co-operations should be formed to employ satellite remote sensing data on a regional scale to preempt problems in water supply, quantity, and quality.

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