Climate change and potential selection for non-diapausing two-spotted spider mites on strawberry in southwestern British Columbia

Authors

  • D. A. Raworth Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre P.O. Box 1000 Agassiz, BC VOM 1A0

Abstract

A validated model of the timing of post-diapause oviposition in the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, was used to predict when 50% of strawberry leaflets with T. urticae also have T. urticae eggs (1005) in each year from 1954 to 2006 at Langley, British Columbia. This timing was studied in relation to hours of frost occurring before and after oviposition. Historically, 1005 occurred before there were frost-free days, but there was a clear threshold at 390 h with temperatures <0°C after 1005, which was not exceeded. This suggests that there is selection pressure for early oviposition, but also a limit to the extent of selection. The subzero temperature profile ~1 month before oviposition was clearly different from that after 1005. The number of hours with subzero temperatures 1 month before oviposition, and the standard deviation of those estimates, were negatively correlated with year and indicated that there could be oviposition in January - rather than February - by 2015. Cumulative hours with temperatures <0°C between 27 November (the empirical estimate of the time when T. urticae begins accumulating degree-days for post-diapause oviposition) and 30 April was negatively correlated with year, and extrapolation of a linear regression suggested that there could be selection for continuous armual oviposition by 2050. There was considerable variation in the data, but considered in combination with published evidence for climate change, these results will be important in developing pest management strategies, and furthermore, will impact many aspects of agriculture in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

References

Bradshaw, W.E., P.A. Zani and C.M. Holzapfel. 2004. Adaptation to temperate climates. Evolution 58: 1748-1762.

Danks, H.V. 2006. Key themes in the study of seasonal adaptations in insects II. Life-cycle patterr1s. Applied Entomology and Zoology 41: 1-13.

Gray, D.R. 2004. The gypsy moth life stage model: landscape-wide estimates of gypsy moth establishment using a multi-generational phenology model. Ecological Modelling 176: 155-171.

Gutierrez, A.P., T. D'Oultremont, C.K. Ellis and L. Ponti. 2006. Climatic limits of pink bollworm in Arizona and California: effects of climate warming. Acta Oecologica 30: 353-364.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007. Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, AR4 SYR — Topic 6. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_topic6.pdf

Koveos, D.S., A. Veerman, G.D. Broufas and A. Exarhou. 1999. Altitudinal and latitudinal Variation in diapause characteristics in the spider mite T etranychus urticae Koch. Entomological Science 2: 607-613.

Logan, J.A. and J.A. Powell. 2004. Modelling mountain pine beetle phenological response to temperature. Information Report Pacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service (BC X 399): 210-222.

Musolin, D.L. 2007. Insects in a warmer world: ecological, physiological and life-history responses of true bugs (Heteroptera) to climate change. Global Change Biology 13: 1565-1585.

Raworth, D.A. 2007. Initiation of oviposition after winter diapause in the spider mite Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae): prediction and historical patterns. Population Ecology 49: 201-210.

SAS Institute. 2004. User’s manual, Version 9.1. SAS Institute, Cary, NC.

Takafuji, A., P.M. So and N. Tsuno. 1991. Inter- and intra-population Variations in diapause attributes of the two-spotted spider mite, T etranychus urticae Koch, in Japan. Researches on Population Ecology 33: 331344.

Veerman, A. 1977a. Aspects of the induction of diapause in a laboratory strain of the mite Tetranychus urticae. Journal of Insect Physiology 23: 703-711.

Veerman, A. 1977b. Photoperiodic termination of diapause in spider mites. Nature 266: 526-527.

Downloads

Published

2008-12-31