Impacts of climate change on the resilience of natural enemy communities for biocontrol of insect pests

为可持续农业找到新的解决方案，同时确保全球范围内的农业生产力，面临着重大挑战。保护性生物防治利用农业系统内不同功能的天敌(捕食者、寄生蜂、微生物)种群，在没有农药的情况下减轻害虫压力并促进调节生态系统服务。虽然我们了解了寄生蜂/捕食者和昆虫病原体在生物防治中的作用，并开始认识到有益土壤细菌对植物健康的重要性，但对这些生物群之间控制害虫的复杂相互作用知之甚少，特别是在环境变化的情况下。该项目将研究一种同时整合地上和地下害虫控制的新方法。学生将使用大麦-蚜虫系统来研究气候变化(二氧化碳升高)对多种营养相互作用的影响，以及在未来条件下害虫压力增加的可能性。探索二氧化碳环境变化对多营养相互作用的影响，将带来对微生物天敌在未来环境情景下可能受到影响的创新理解。很少有人研究这一点，尤其是在一个由多个天敌组成的群落的背景下，这种调节生态系统服务的价值将从植物健康和作物产量方面进行评估。从实验室研究到更大规模的中观温室实验，再到田间转移，PHD将建立复杂性。也有一个令人兴奋的机会，让农民参与到博士研究中共同设计关键问题并传播研究结果。目标总体目标是：1.确定由土壤细菌和地上真菌/寄生虫提供的害虫控制服务之间的权衡。2.确定环境变化(生态二氧化碳)对生物防治/疾病传播和植物健康的影响。3.将知识从实验室实验转移到现场。4.让最终用户农民群体参与研究投入和产出

There are significant challenges to finding new solutions for sustainable agriculture, whilst ensuring agricultural productivity on a global scale. Conservation biological control uses functionally diverse populations of natural enemies (predators, parasitoids, microbes) within agricultural systems to alleviate pest pressure and promote regulating ecosystem services, in the absence of pesticides. Whilst we understand the role of parasitoids/predators and insect pathogens for biological control, and are beginning to acknowledge the importance of beneficial soil bacteria for plant health, less is known about the intricate interactions between these groups of organisms for controlling pests, especially under environmental change. This project will investigate a novel approach of integrating above- and below- ground pest control simultaneously. The student will use a barley-aphid system to investigate the effects of climate change (elevated CO2) on multi-trophic interactions and the potential for increased pest pressures under future conditions. Exploring the impact of environmental changes in CO2 on multi-trophic interactions will bring innovative understanding of how microbial natural enemies may be affected under future environmental scenarios. This has rarely been studied and especially not in the context of a community assemblage of multiple natural enemies where the value of this regulating ecosystem service will be assessed in terms of plant health and crop yield.The PhD will build complexity, from lab-studies, to larger mesocosm greenhouse experiments and transferring to the field. There is also an exciting opportunity to engage with farmers to co-design key questions to address in the PhD and to disseminate outcomes from the studies.ObjectivesThe overarching objectives are to: 1. Determine trade-offs between pest control services provided by soil bacteria and by fungi/parasitoids aboveground. 2. Determine the impact of environmental changes (eCO2) on biocontrol/disease transmission, and plant health. 3. Transfer knowledge from laboratory experiment to the field. 4. Engage end-user farmer groups with research input and outputs