Print PageInsect and plant developmental rates are strongly dependent on the temperature of their environments. As global temperatures increase, we expect insect and plant phenological events to advance, however the rate in which they advance in relation to each other is unclear. For forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) phenological synchrony between egg hatch and host plant bud-break plays a critical role in insect survival. Using a forest warming infrastructure in northern Minnesota (B4Warmed), we simulated future temperatures by warming small outdoor forest plots by1.8 and 3.6 degrees Celsius. We recorded phenology, leaf chemistry, temperature accumulation, and insect performance to make inferences of insect-plant interactions in a warmer future world.
Results/Conclusions
Increased temperature resulted in increased development rates for both insects and their host trees. However, insects differed in their rate of increase compared with their host plants, aspen and birch. For example insects hatched 10 days prior to aspen bud break at ambient temperatures, but only 6.7 days prior to aspen bud break under +3.6 treatment, indicating an altered phenological synchrony under warmer conditions. Temperature also affected leaf condensed tannin levels, with lower levels in plots heated to +3.6. These results show that predicted increases in global temperature will result in altered phenological and chemical interactions between this important forest pest and its host plants.
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