Art05_Oehme.indd Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 84, 151 - 157 (2011) 1Institute for Landscape and Plant Ecology, Plant Ecology and Ecotoxicology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 2Institute of Phytomedicine, Applied Entomology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany Response of spring crops and associated aphids to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations V. Oehme 1, P. Högy 1, J. Franzaring 1, C.P.W. Zebitz 2, A. Fangmeier 1 (Received September 27, 2010) Summary Having evolved a parasitic relation to their host plants, aphids may serve as indicators of plant responses to environmental changes. The present rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations is expected to alter plant leaf chemistry and may thus alter host plant – aphid relations. We involved a climate chamber system and used bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) and green peach aphid (Myzus persicae S.) and their respective host plants, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. “Triso”) and oilseed rape (Brassica napus cv. “Campino”), to elucidate the effects of atmospheric CO2 enrich- ment on such bitrophic systems. Spring wheat grown at elevated CO2 (600 ppm) generally had greater above ground biomass than plants grown at ambient CO2 (400 ppm). Bird cherry-oat aphid infestation resulted in reduced spring wheat above ground biomass compared to the non-infested control. Relative crop growth rate (RGR) was increased by elevated CO2. In our study, the relative developmen- tal stage (rDS) and intrinsic rate of increase (rm) of the aphids was only slightly and non-signifi cantly increased under elevated atmospheric CO2 conditions. The response of aphid weight and RGR to elevated CO2 differed, increasing by 24% and 18.2% for bird cherry-oat aphid and decreasing by 12% and 12.5% for green peach aphid, respectively. Aphids reared on spring wheat at elevated CO2 had a shorter lifespan, whereas the opposite effect was found for aphids reared on oilseed rape. The average number of nymphs of the two pest species showed both an increase under elevated CO2. No consistent picture emerges from these fi ndings, and further investigation on host – aphid relations under changing atmospheric conditions such as CO2 enrichment appear necessary. Introduction Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has increased from 290 ppm (parts per million) in 1850 to 375 ppm in 2007 (IPCC, 2007) and will continue to rise in the coming decades due to an- thropogenic activities. According to current climate scenarios CO2 concentration will increase up to 450-550 ppm at the middle of this century. Besides indirect impacts due to climate change CO2 enrich- ment will directly affect both plants and insects (MASTERS et al., 1998; HUGHES, 2000). Several effects of CO2 enrichment on plants have been observed such as an increase in photosynthesis rates, leaf area, dry weight and other growth characteristics (OWENSBY et al., 1999). Many studies have shown an increase in plant growth in elevated compared to ambient CO2 (NORBY et al., 1999; LONG et al., 2004; AINSWORTH and LONG, 2005). In earlier work when a doubling of atmospheric CO2 was considered, CURE and ACOCK (1986) reported an increase in yield by 41% on average after assembling yield data for 10 major crops (leaf, grain, tuber and fi ber). Corresponding results were obtained by AMTHOR (2001) who estimated an increase in wheat grain mass by 31% on average based on wheat yield data from 50 publications. In more recent work involving FACE technology (Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment) at only ca. 200 ppm above ambient instead of doubling, elevated CO2 increased aboveground biomass by 12% and grain yield by 10-15% in wheat (KIMBALL et al., 2002a). For oilseed rape, only few data are available on yield and growth response to CO2 enrichment. According to FRANZARING et al. (2008b), shoot biomass of summer oilseed rape tended to be 20% greater and seed output increased by approximately 17% under elevated CO2. In this study, plant height and the dry weight of reproductive organs was also sig- nifi cantly increased under elevated CO2, indicating a speeding up of plant development. The signifi cant increase in the dry weights of senescent leaves in plant specimens from the elevated CO2 treatment strongly suggests that plant phenology is also affected. It was also revealed that elevated CO2 infl uences the primary and secondary metabolism of plants (PENUELAS and ESTIARTE, 1998). Many studies have shown changes in foliar sugars, starch and increases in concentrations of carbon based secondary structural compounds due to elevated CO2 (PENUELAS and ESTIARTE, 1998; STILING et al., 1999). The foliar nitrogen content in plants grown under increased CO2 was often reported to be reduced by up to 15% (COTRUFO, 1998; HEAGLE et al., 2002). The rise in CO2 can thus indirectly affect herbivores by bio- chemically altering the nutritive value of the host plants. The in- crease in the carbon:nitrogen ratio in host plants generally decreases the nutritive quality for some feeding guilds of pests (e.g. phloem- feeders, leaf miners, xylem-feeders, seed-eaters, whole-cell-feeders and leaf-chewers), leading to an increase in their food consumption rates in order to compensate for the reduced quality (SALT et al., 1995; MARKS and LINCOLN, 1996; BEZEMER and JONES, 1998). The increased siphoning from phloem-feeders in turn causes a massive reduction in host plant assimilates (WATT et al., 1995). The change in the allocation patterns of compounds and the chemical composition of plant tissues indirectly affects the food ecology of phytophagous insects (HUNTER, 2001). RHODES et al. (1996) have shown that phloem-feeding aphids use amino acids for their protein metabolism, and carbohydrates for energy. The phloem of plants contains high amounts of carbohydrates (0.8-1.8 M), small amounts of amino acids (60-200 mM) and very few lipids (KLINGAUF, 1987; DILLWITH et al., 1993; SANDSTÖM and MORAN, 2001; WILKINSON and DOUGLAS, 2003; DOUGLAS, 2006). In order to obtain the necessary amounts of amino acids required for growth, aphids thus consume considerable amounts of carbohydrates from the phloem. Improved food quality of a host plant with respect to aphids expresses itself in a higher amino acid to carbohydrate ratio within the phloem (MITTLER and MEIKLE, 1991). Elevated CO2 may change the concentrations of some individual amino acids in the phloem sap, thereby affecting the performance of aphids. A study of DOCHERTY et al. (1997) proved that reduction of total amino acid concentration in phloem sap was 31% at elevated CO2. The reduction in food quality due to elevated CO2 also impacts the behaviour and physiology of leaf miner insects (STILING and CORNELISSEN, 2007). Many species of herbivorous insects tend to show altered behaviour and characteristics under CO2 enrichment. The consequences differ between species and include retarded growth rates, increased nymphal development times and higher mortality rates (LINDROTH et al., 1993; SMITH and JONES 1998; COVIELLA and TRUBLE, 1999; GOVERDE and ERHARDT, 2003). In 152 V. Oehme, P. Högy, J. Franzaring, C.P.W. Zebitz, A. Fangmeier contrast, some studies concluded that the development time of phloem-feeding insects may be reduced by 17%, and that adult weight, relative growth rate (RGR) and population size may actually increase due to elevated CO2 (BEZEMER and JONES, 1998; NEWMAN et al., 2003). In this paper, we investigated the responses of host plants to elevated CO2 in order to observe the indirect effects on phloem feeding in- sects. The experiment was carried out with bird cherry-oat aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) on spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. “Triso”) and with green peach aphid (Myzus persicae S.) on oilseed rape (Brassica napus cv. “Campino”). Determining the effects on these sap-feeding insects is very important for agriculture. Myzus persicae causes both direct (leaf curling) and indirect damage of plants (transmission of plant viruses such as lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) and cucumber virus I) (NAMBA and SYLVESTER, 1981). Myzus persicae can achieve very high population densities on plant tissue, retarding plant growth rate and thereby causing a perceptible reduction in yield of root and foliage crops (PETITT and SMILOWITZ, 1982). Rhopalosiphum padi in turn causes a signifi cant decrease in yield on cereal crops via feeding damage, resulting in a reduction of kernel amount and mass. Kernel amount was reduced by 36-50% in winter wheat, 24-48% in rye, 41-60% in barley and 41-63% in winter oats. The reduction of thousand kernel weight was 33-65% in winter wheat, 13-26% in rye, 25-47% in winter barley and 43-75% in winter oats (KUROLI, 2009). Other researchers have conducted experiments on the indirect effects of elevated CO2 on Myzus persicae feeding on Brassica napus (HIMANEN et al., 2008) and on Solanum dulcamara (HUGHES and BAZZAZ, 2001), but the growth parameters of aphids were not taken into account. Review of literature showed that the relative growth rate of aphids may be increased under elevated CO2. However, these observations were carried out with other species of aphid as Aulacorthum solani (AWMACK et al., 1997) and Sitobion avenae (CHEN and WU, 2006) on host plants such as Vicia faba, where the relative growth rate of Sitobion avenae was increased by 33% at 550 ppm CO2 and by 74% at 750 ppm CO2. Unfortunately insect response to elevated CO2 differs between host plants and aphid species (BEZEMER et al., 1998). It is thus necessary to observe specifi c species of aphids on specifi c host plants. For the fi rst time, in this study the development of R. padi on spring wheat and development of M. persicae on oilseed rape from the nymph to the adult stage under elevated CO2 was observed, making record of the relative developmental stage, population growth rate and relative growth rate of the aphids. Materials and methods Cultivation of plants and experimental conditions The experiment was carried out on spring wheat (T. aestivum L. cv. “Triso”) from 16 June to 13 August 2008 and on oilseed rape (Brassica napus cv. “Campino”) from 27 May to 17 August 2009 at the Institute for Landscape and Plant Ecology of Hohenheim University, Germany. A pot experiment was conducted in six con- trolled-environment chambers (Vötsch Bioline ®) with two levels of CO2 (ambient, 400 ppm and elevated, 600 ppm). Seeds of spring wheat and oilseed rape were sown in pots (Ø 18 cm) with a mixture of substrate (Fruhstorfer Erde Typ LD 80, Industrie-Erdenwerk Archut, Lauterbach, Germany) and sand (9:1). Germination took place at 22 ± 2oC, 80% relative humidity and 18:6 hour L: D photo- period. Out of the sixteen host plants in each chamber, ten were chosen for aphid infestation and six for plant analysis. Plants were grown having a photoperiod of 18 h, photosynthetic photon fl ux density (PPFD) of approximately 520 µmol m-1s-1, a day/night tem- perature of 22/12oC, irrigated daily with 50 ml water and fertilized weekly using 50 ml of 0.3% nutrient solution (Wuxal ®, Aglukon GmbH). Host plants and climate profi les were rotated weekly be- tween chambers in order to ensure results were not chamber specifi c. Further chamber characteristics are given in details in FRANZARING et al. (2008a). Biomass production and plant phenology In order to determine the aboveground biomass of plants at ambient and elevated CO2, spring wheat and oilseed rape were harvested at growth stages 12 and 30 (BBCH code) according to ZADOKS et al. (1974) and WEBER and BLEIHOLDER (1990), respectively, dried at 105 oC to constant weight and then weighed on a balance (Sartorius analytics A 120 S). Subsequently, relative growth rate (RGR, HUNT, 1982) of the plants was calculated using equation (1). Since in any experiment start weight was similar, we did not refer to start weight as required by HUNT (1982). (1) RGR = (1n W2(1n W2(1n W – 1n W1 – 1n W1 – 1n W ) / t2) / t2) / t -t1 where W1W1W is the dry weight (DW) at start of the experiment (t1), W2W2W is the fi nal DW at the end of the experiment (t2t2t ), and t2 t2 t - t1 is the time (days) elapsed between the weighing. Cultivation of aphids In order to infest the experimental plants with similar aged aphids, synchronized colonies of R. padi and M. persicae were established. A synchronised long-term cultivation was carried out in greenhouse at 20 ± 1°C, relative humidity 60-70%, a lighting duration of 16 h and PPFD of approximately 22.5 µmol m-2 s-1. Then the synchro- nised adult, female apterous aphids were placed on plants, grown in climate chambers under two levels of CO2 to produce progeny. Petri dishes that had been converted into small plexiglass cages (Ø 3.5 cm) and attached with clip on the second leaf of each plant (BBCH code 12) were used for aphid rearing. After fi ve hours, female aphids were removed and fi ve newly born nymphs (L1) were allowed to develop until they reach late-nymphal instars in order to determine the relative developmental stages (rDS), developmental time and preimaginal mortality. The cages nymphs were observed daily. To assess longevity of adults and reproduction, one of the fi ve aphids per cage after adult moult was put separately in a cage on a young leaf and observed until death. Nymphs deposited per female were counted and removed with a paintbrush daily. Excess freshly born nymphs and adult pre-reproductive aphids were weighed to determine body size and relative growth rate (RGR). Determination of aphids’ growth parameters The development of R. padi and M. persicae was observed and counted daily from start of the experiments until entering the adult stage. To depict any indirect effect of elevated CO2 into aphid de- velopment, the relative developmental stage (rDS), implemented to show the effects if insect growth regulators (ZEBITZ, 1984), was cal- culated after daily counting and subsequential removal of exuviates of nymphs using equation (2): (2) rDS = ∑ (nt St St p Sp S •Fp•Fp•F ) / Nt) / Nt) / N S where nt St St p Sp S is the number of individuals per development stage at time t, FpFpF the multiplication factor of relevant development stage (nymphal stages 1-4, adult stage 5) and NtNtN S the total number of S the total number of S individuals per cage. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm, WYATT and WHITE, 1977) of R. padi and M. persicae were calculated from the number of offspring per female after one generation time using the following equation: (3) rm = (0.754 (ln Md(0.754 (ln Md(0.754 (ln M )) / d where MdMdM is the number of offspring per generation time and d is the generation time (days). Crops and related aphids under elevated CO2 153 In order to determine the relative growth rate (RGR, HOWARD and DIXON, 1995) of R. padi and M. persicae, weights of single adults were measured using a precision balance (Sartorius analytic 4504 MP8) and calculated following equation (1). Statistical analyses The effects of elevated CO2 concentration on growth parameters of R. padi and M. persicae (e.g. nymphs and adult weight as well as the relative growth rate of aphids) were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA, Visual-XSel® 9.0/ DoE & Weibull). The com- bined effect of CO2 elevation and aphids on plant above ground biomass and relative growth rate were analysed by ANOVA with CO2 treatment and aphid infestation as independent variables. Treatment means were compared by means of LSD-test. Comparison of relative development stages of aphids was done applicating the Kruskal-Wallis-Test. As the fecundity was not normally distributed, treatments were analysed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test. The suitable statistical test methods were chosen according to KÖHLER et al. (2002). Results Plant biomass and phenology In 2008, the phenology of spring wheat was determined from leaf development (9 DAS, days after sowing) until stem elongation (57 DAS). The results suggest that plant development was not sig- nifi cantly altered due to elevated CO2 during these developmental stages (data not shown). Spring wheat grown under elevated CO2 signifi cantly increased above ground biomass by 41% as biomass was 7.25 ± 0.24 g DW at 400 ppm and 10.19 ± 0.058 g DW at 600 ppm when the plants were not infested with aphids (Tab. 1). This CO2-induced increase was even higher (+ 48%) in spring wheat infested with R. padi, above ground biomass being 6.25 ± 0.071 g DW at 400 ppm and 9.27 ± 0.259 g DW at 600 ppm. As expected, the infestation by R. padi impacted plant above ground biomass negatively, reducing it by 14% at 400 ppm CO2 and by 9.1% at 600 ppm CO2. However, no statistically signifi cant interactions between CO2 enrichment and aphid infestation on wheat above ground biomass were detected. The relative growth rate (RGR) of T. aestivum was signifi cantly increased due to elevated CO2 (on average by 19%) and signifi cantly reduced when the plants were infested with aphids (on average by 6.1%). There was a slightly higher depression of wheat RGR due to aphid infestation at ambient compared to elevated CO2 (7.9 vs. 4.6%), however, these CO2 by aphid interactions were below statisti- cal signifi cance. In 2009, the phenology of oilseed rape under CO2 enrichments was determined during leaf development (from 12 until 78 DAS). Plant development was not signifi cantly altered due to elevated CO2 (data not shown). Effects of CO2 enrichment and presence of aphids on oilseed rape above ground biomass and RGR were consistently below statisti- cal signifi cance because of large variation between replicates. Correspondingly, no signifi cant interactions between CO2 enrich- ment and aphid treatment could be detected. Nevertheless, elevated CO2 tended to increase rape RGR (on average by 34% across both aphid treatments) (Tab. 1). Effect of elevated CO2 on aphid performance Elevated CO2 concentrations resulted in several changes of growth parameters of bird cherry-oat and green peach aphids. However, the relative developmental stage (rDS) of the aphids remained almost unaffected in enhanced CO2 environments (Tab. 2). The comparison of average imaginal weight of R. padi and M. Tab. 1: Above ground biomass [g pot-1] and relative growth rate (RGR) of spring wheat and oilseed rape under ambient or elevated CO2 concentration and with or without aphid colonization shortly before stem elongation stage. Values represent treatment average ± standard error from three replicate climate chambers, respectively. Plant species / ambient CO2, elevated CO2, ambient CO2, elevated CO2, Signifi cance of treatment effects (F-test) plant trait without aphids without aphids with aphids with aphids CO2 aphids CO2*aphids Wheat biomass 7.25 ± 0.24 A 10.19 ± 0.058 B 6.25 ± 0.071 C 9.27 ± 0.259 D < 0.001 0.001 ns Wheat RGR 1.99 ± 0.033 A 2.34 ± 0.008 B 1.84 ± 0.011 C 2.23 ± 0.024 D < 0.001 < 0.001 ns Rape biomass 4.66 ± 2.10 A 6.72 ± 1.35 A 5.19 ± 0.642 A 6.07 ± 0.660 A ns ns ns Rape RGR 1.32 ± 0.435 A 1.94 ± 0.136 A 1.51 ± 0.003 A 1.85 ± 0.001 A ns ns ns Different letters in superscript within one row indicate signifi cantly different treatment means at P < 0.05 (LSD-test), ns is not signifi cant Tab. 2: Relative development stages of R. padi and M. persicae from fi rst nymphal instar to apterous virgo. Columns 1-9 (R. padi) or 1-10 (M. persicae) refer to days after leaving fi ve instar nymphs in the cages. rDS of Rhopalosiphum padi (from L1 to apterous virgo) [days] CO2 treatment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 400 ppm 1.0 1.7 2.2 2.7 3.1 3.7 4.3 4.7 5.0 600 ppm 1.0 1.8 2.1 2.6 3.1 3.7 4.4 4.8 5.0 rDS of Myzus persicae (from L1 to apterous virgo) [days] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 400 ppm 1.0 1.1 1.7 2.1 2.5 2.9 3.2 3.9 4.3 5.0 600 ppm 1.0 1.2 1.8 2.1 2.5 3.0 3.4 4.0 4.4 5.0 154 V. Oehme, P. Högy, J. Franzaring, C.P.W. Zebitz, A. Fangmeier persicae before the nymph reproduction and RGR of aphids clearly revealed a CO2 effect (Tab. 3). Average weight of R. padi imago was 570.6 ± 15.8 µg FW at ambient CO2 and 707.2 ± 34.0 µg FW at elevated CO2 treatment which means a signifi cant increase by 24%. On the other hand, average weight of M. persicae imago decreased signifi cantly from 416.5 ± 17.2 µg at ambient CO2 to 366.5 ± 1.1 µg at elevated CO2 which corresponds to a decrease by 12% due to elevated CO2. The RGR of R. padi feeding on wheat achieved 0.11 ± 0.003 at ambient CO2 and 0.13 ± 0.01 at 600 ppm CO2. RGR of R. padi was higher than RGR of M. persicae on oilseed rape, the latter which achieved 0.08 ± 0.00 at 400 ppm CO2 and 0.07 ± 0.00 at 600 ppm CO2. Thus, CO2 enrichment increased the RGR of R. padi by 18.2%, while it decreased the RGR of M. persicae by 12.5%. R. padi lifespan was slightly shorted under elevated CO2 con- centration, although this effect was not signifi cant. The lifespan was 39.0 days (ambient) and 39.3 days (elevated CO2). In contrast, lifespan of M. persicae was slightly prolonged by 2.1 days. Elevated CO2 not also affected growth but also reproductive charac- teristics of aphids. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) of both aphids was slightly but not signifi cantly higher under elevated CO2. The average number of R. padi nymphs per female in plants grown under elevated CO2 was increased by 6.0%, although this was not signifi - cant. The respective values were 69.2 ± 8.7 nymphs in ambient and 73.3 ± 12.4 nymphs under elevated CO2. The average number of M. persicae nymphs per female in plants grown under elevated CO2 was increased by 3.5%. The respective values were 59.3 ± 7.8 nymphs in ambient and 61.4 ± 9.5 nymphs under elevated CO2. In order to establish the frequency with which the female aphids reproduced under normal and CO2 enriched conditions, the daily ap- pearance of nymphs was recorded. During reproduction, the number of R. padi nymphs increased, peaking on day nine. Afterwards, it tapered off, the last nymph produced on day 20 (Fig. 1). Signifi cant CO2 effects were found on days 5 to 7 and on days 13 and 14. Regarding M. persicae, the number of nymphs increased during the fi rst sixteen days, after which it declined, the last nymph produced on day 32 (Fig. 2). A signifi cant CO2 effect was found on day 21. Discussion According to the current predictions, plants and insects will be infl uenced due to increasing atmospheric CO2. The responses of plants and aphids to these changes in our research corresponded par- tially with predictions. The experiment in controlled-environment chambers was established in order to understand the positive or negative impacts of CO2 enrichment on agricultural crops and phloem feeding aphids such as R. padi and M. persicae. Our observations showed that the phenology of spring wheat and oilseed rape was not signifi cantly altered due to elevated CO2. SLAFER and RAWSON (1997) have argued that elevated CO2 has no effect on growth and leaf development in wheat. However, FRANZARING et al. (2008b) suggested that phenological development of oilseed rape was signifi cantly enhanced under elevated CO2. Slight phenology acceleration under rising CO2 was also found by KIMBALL et al., (2002b) on spring wheat. In our experiment, above ground biomass of spring wheat was increased by 41% due to elevated CO2. This supports earlier fi ndings on the fertilizing effects of CO2 enrichment on C3 plants (e.g. KÖRNER, 1991; TAYLOR et al., 1994) and is well in agreement with POORTER (1993) who surveyed literature (156 plant species) and found that with a doubling in atmospheric CO2 plant biomass during vegetative growth was increased on Tab. 3: Mean imaginal weight (IW), relative growth rate (RGR), increase rate (rm-values) and mean adult longevity of R. padi and M. persicae under ambient and enhanced CO2 conditions. Parameters Ambient CO2 Elevated CO2 P values (ANOVA) Rhopalosiphum padi Imaginal weight (IW) [µg] 1 570.6 ± 15.8 707.2 ± 34.0 0.01 Relative growth rate (RGR) [µg/µg/day] 1 0.11 ± 0.003 0.13 ± 0.01 0.01 Increase rate rm [d-1] 2 0.354 ± 0.01 0.358 ± 0.015 ns Duration of life [days] 2 39.3 ± 3.2 39.0 ± 3.5 ns Myzus persicae Imaginal weight (IW) [µg] 1 416.5 ± 17.2 366.5 ± 1.1 0.001 Relative growth rate (RGR) [µg/µg/day] 1 0.08 ± 0.00 0.07 ± 0.00 0.001 Increase rate rm [d-1] 2 0.30 ± 0.01 0.31 ± 0.01 ns Duration of life [days] 2 39.0 ± 6.5 41.1 ± 9.2 ns 1 n = 50, 2 n = 30, ns, not signifi cant Fig. 1: Daily average number of Rhopalosiphum padi nymphs per treatment (n = 30). Asterisks indicate signifi cant CO2 effects according to the Mann-Whitney U-test (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001). Crops and related aphids under elevated CO2 155 average by 37% for C3 crops. Correspondingly, the RGR of spring wheat was increased by 17% under elevated CO2 in our study. Similarly, FLYNN et al. (2006) investigated potted plants (Solanum dulcamara) in glass-topped chambers under two conditions of atmospheric CO2 concentration (350/ 750 ppm) and confi rmed en- hancement of RGR due to elevated CO2. Increase of CO2 led to signifi cant gain in plant above ground biomass, while the presence of aphids reduced the above ground biomass of spring wheat in both ambient and enriched CO2 environments. Our results showed that infestation with R. padi caused signifi cant reductions in wheat biomass of 14% and 9.1% at 400 ppm and 600 ppm, respectively. However, no signifi cant effects were found when oilseed rape was infested with M. persicae. HUGHES and BAZZAZ (2001) proved that out of fi ve aphid species (Acyrthosiphon (2001) proved that out of fi ve aphid species (Acyrthosiphon (2001) proved that out of fi ve aphid species ( pisum, Aphis nerii, Aphis oenotherae, Aulacorthum solani and Myzus persicae) grown on fi ve host plants (Vicia faba, Asclepias syriaca, Oenothera biennis, Nicotiana sylvestris and Solanum dul- camara) only Aphis nerii had signifi cantly negative effects on the biomass of Asclepias syriaca at both ambient and elevated CO2. The interaction between CO2 and aphid presence on above ground bio- mass and RGR was insignifi cant for spring wheat and oilseed rape in our study. However, HUGHES and BAZZAZ (2001) suggested that there was highly signifi cant interaction between CO2 and presence of two species of aphid (Myzus persicae and Aphis nerii) on above ground biomass of Asclepias syriaca and Solanum dulcamara. Regarding our fi ndings on CO2 effects on aphids, R. padi showed an increase in weight of 24% and RGR of 18.2% in the high-CO2 treatment. Similar results were obtained by BEZEMER and JONES (1998), supporting the theory that insects perform better when feed- ing on plants grown under CO2 enrichment. According to AWMACK et al. (1997), the aphid Aulacorthum solani (Homoptera: Aphididae) reared on bean (Vicia faba) and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) also responded to elevated CO2 conditions with increased growth. However, FLYNN et al. (2006) adduced evidence that CO2 did not signifi cantly affect the weight of aphids (Macrosiphum euphor- biae Thomas). Other studies concluded that CO2 enrichment can negatively affect insect weight (JOHNS and HUGHES, 2002; ROTH and LINDROTH, 1995) and RGR of leaf-miner pests, reducing RGR by 8.3% (STILING and CORNELISSEN, 2007). In agreement, M. persicae showed decreased aphid weights by 12% and RGR by 12.5% under CO2 enrichment in our study. In accordance with BALE et al. (2002) the decrease in weights refl ect accelerated plant development due to global climate changes (increase of CO2 or temperature), which decrease the amount of feeding time available to the aphids. We observed that the rDS and rm of aphids was only slightly and non- signifi cantly increased under rising atmospheric CO2 conditions. Our study showed that the fecundities of R. padi and M. persicae feed- ing on plants grown at elevated CO2 increased by 6.0% and 3.5%, respectively. In contrast, TRAW et al. (1996) reported reduced fecun- dity of insects. Additionally, WILLIAMS et al. (2003) concluded that elevated CO2 has no impact on fecundity of phloem feeding insects. According to LINCOLN et al. (1993), CO2-induced alterations in phytochemical constituents important to insects can potentially alter their behaviours. In our study, the duration of aphids’ life was prolonged by an average of 2.2 days for R. padi and shortened by an average of 0.3 days for M. persicae under elevated CO2 concentration. COVIELLA and TRUBLE (1999) concluded that aphid’s lifespan is likely to be ex- tended under elevated CO2. Overall, climate change will impact plants and insects. CO2 enrich- ment can have dramatic consequences for plants due to acceleration of phenological development, changes in phytochemical, biochemi- cal and biosynthetic processes, which in turn may alter future phy- tophagous insect populations, behaviour, performance and feeding habits. However, from the work published so far, no clear systematic rules on the mode of action and the direction of responses can be de- rived; rather, experimental results appear to depend on the particular organisms investigated and the experimental conditions applied in the respective studies. Thus, further studies in this area are highly recommended. 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