Research Briefs are summaries of recent insect- or arthropod-related literature of interest to entomologists

摘要

Entomologists have been able to provide the scientific community with a wide variety of clear examples of the biological effects of anthropogenic climate change on the present-day biosphere. These two articles point to an overlooked aspect of the relationship between a warming environment, increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, plant growth, and herbivorous insects. Currano et al. provide evidence of a dramatic increase in insect herbivory from a period of abrupt global warming in the Paleocene-Eocene. Their findings are based on observed insect damage of beautifully preserved fossilized leaves from this time period. The photos of perfectly preserved blotch and serpentine mines, circular hole feeding damage, etc. on 55 million-year-old fossilized leaves are striking. We learn from the past that a combination of increased temperature and increased levels of carbon dioxide correlates with increasing plant damage and colonization by insects. The commentary article by DeLucia et al. in the same journal issue provides a link to associate the Currano article, dealing with the distant past, with ongoing research. The main point of these articles is that increased insect herbivory should be expected in both native and agricultural ecosystems asour global temperatures rise in the coming years.