DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Assessing the effects of climate change on biotic interactions structuring herbivore communities

气候变化可能会使平均气温上升2？下一个世纪的气温将上升到6摄氏度。不幸的是，科学家缺乏必要的数据来准确预测这种增加对生物群落的影响。大多数关于变暖的实验都集中在单一物种上。相反，该项目将测试温度升高对多种植物，食草动物和捕食者物种的影响。为了研究温度是否会改变植物防御害虫的有效性，植物将在不同的温度下生长，并在不同的时间暴露于昆虫食草动物。为了研究温度升高是否会增加相同昆虫被捕食者吃掉的速度，整个植物群落，食草动物和捕食者将在当前和未来的温度条件下饲养。然后将测量捕食性昆虫控制草食性昆虫种群的能力。这两个实验将确定气候变化如何影响植物和昆虫之间复杂的相互作用，这将有助于研究人员开发预测模型。入侵昆虫物种对重要的经济作物物种造成了相当大的损害。重要的是，在这里描述的两个实验中使用的许多食草动物是农业和园艺害虫或与这些害虫密切相关。第一个实验的结果将决定在温暖的气候下，重要的经济植物是否能够充分保护自己免受虫害。同样，第二个实验将确定捕食者是否可以控制农业害虫的种群规模，这对防止害虫爆发可能很重要。

Climate change is likely to increase average temperatures by 2 ? 6˚ C over the next century. Unfortunately, scientists lack the data necessary to make accurate predictions about the effects of this increase on biological communities. Most experiments on warming have focused on single species. In contrast, this project will test effects of increasing temperatures on multiple plant, herbivore, and predator species. To examine whether temperature alters effectiveness of how plants defend themselves against insect pests, plants will be grown under different temperatures and exposed to insect herbivores at different times. To examine whether rising temperatures can increase the rate at which the same insects are eaten by their predators, entire communities of plants, herbivores and predators will be reared under current and future temperature conditions. The ability of predatory insects to control populations of herbivorous insects will then be measured. These two experiments will identify how climate change might affect complex interactions between plants and insects, which will aid researchers in developing predictive models. Invasive insect species are responsible for considerable damage to economically important crop species. Importantly, many of the herbivores used in the two experiments described here are agricultural and horticultural pests or are closely related to such pests. The results of the first experiment will determine whether economically important plants will be able to adequately defend themselves against insect pests under warmer climates. Likewise, the second experiment will determine whether predators can control population sizes of agricultural pests, which could be important in preventing pest outbreaks.