Xie, H., Shi, J., Shi, F.,
Xu, H., He, K. and
Wang, Z.
2020
Aphid fecundity
and defenses
in wheat exposed to
a combination of heat
and drought stress.
Journal of Experimental Botany
71: 2713-2722.
FULL SUMMARY HERE:
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/oct/a11.php
My Short Summary Follows:
Xie et al. (2020) say that "clarifying the expected changes in plant-insect interactions under combined heat and drought stress is an important objective in order to reduce insect damage to crops."
They studied several plant stresses (heat +8 degrees C.) and insects (aphids) and drought (half normal soil moisture). Strangely, "the nutritional quality of wheat was improved by heat and drought stress." Xie et al. conclude that if temperatures rise and/or drought becomes more prevalent in the future, "fewer resources will need to be dedicated to remediating aphid infestations of wheat".
Figure 1:
Life parameters of aphids reared on wheat grown under heat and drought conditions. (A) Net reproduction rate; (B) generation time; (C) intrinsic rate of increase; (D) finite rate of increase. Each value represents the mean ± SE of three replicates. P values are provided for two-way ANOVA on the effects of heat (H) and drought (D) treatments on relative water content. CT = control temperature.
