Subtropical Tritrophic Interactions Under Elevated CO2 and Temperature Conditions.

The effects of climate change and extreme weather conditions on plants and animals have been documented extensively. However, the possible effects of these factors on plant-insect interactions in subtropical regions are relatively unexplored. The present study investigated the consequences of elevated CO2 and temperature on a tritrophic system (plant-insect-parasitoid) in subtropical regions. The experimental conditions were as follows: ambient CO2, 500 ppm; elevated CO2, 1,000 ppm; ambient temperature, 24/21°C (day/night); and elevated temperature, 29/26°C (day/night). Brassica oleracea var. italica foliar primary metabolites were quantified 6 wk after germination and insect feeding bioassays were subsequently conducted. Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae were fed directly on these plants until pupal development. In addition, the second instar S. litura larvae were exposed to the parasitoid Snellenius manilae (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) under the same plant treatment conditions. The results suggested that elevated CO2 has a major influence on plant performance and foliar quality. Elevated CO2 also affected the leaf area, foliar fresh and dry weights, and total nitrogen and carbohydrate contents. Elevated temperature reduced the larval development time and increased the growth rate of S. litura. Sn. manilae had a higher parasitism rate and shorter development time at elevated temperature compared with ambient temperature. These results suggested that the dynamic and communal structure of S. litura and its parasitoids requires comprehensive evaluation in terms of the changes in nutritional quality (bottom-up control) caused by the interactive effects of CO2 and temperature.