Biodiv Sci ›› 2014, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (4): 502-507.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2014.13219

Special Issue: 昆虫多样性与生态功能

• Original Papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of elevated CO2 and increased temperature on wheat field arthropod community

Shuai Liu1, Baoping Li1, Ling Meng1,*(), Xuhui Zhang2, Genxing Pan2   

  1. 1. College of Plant Protection/Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095
    2 .College of Natural Resources, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095
  • Received:2013-10-11 Accepted:2014-01-14 Online:2014-07-20 Published:2014-07-24
  • Contact: Meng Ling

Abstract:

To project arthropod community response to climate change in wheat fields, a field survey of arthropods over the growing season was made in the plots under a factorial combination of two CO2 (ambient and 500 μL/L) and two temperature (ambient and +2℃) treatments. The survey collected 52 species, 42 families, 10 orders, and 3 classes. Analyses of overall arthropod community showed a significant increase in evenness due to “Elevated CO2 + Increased temperature” treatment. Elevated CO2 and increased temperature treatments had varying impacts on species diversity parameters within the wheat growing season. The “Elevated CO2 + Increased temperature” treatment increased the Shannon-Wiener index slightly during the early growing season, but decreased it later in the season. Species diversity was most similar between the “Elevated CO2 + Increased temperature” and the “Increased temperature” treatment. The analysis of arthropod communities by trophic level showed that the “Elevated CO2” increased herbivorous insect richness and the “Increased temperature” increased parasitoid abundances, compared with the control. The treatments did not affect detritivorous and predaceous arthropod communities. The results of this study suggest that elevated CO2 and increased temperature can affect arthropod diversity in wheat fields, and the effects may vary between both elevated CO2 and increased temperature and individual elevation of either CO2 and temperature.

Key words: phytophagous insect diversity, carnivorous arthropod diversity, FACE, increased temperature, climate change