Abstract
Overwintering success is an important determinant of arthropod populations that must be considered as climate change continues to influence the spatiotemporal population dynamics of agricultural pests. Using a long-term monitoring database and biologically relevant overwintering zones, we modeled the annual and seasonal population dynamics of a common pest, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), based on three overwintering suitability zones throughout North America using four decades of soil temperatures: the southern range (able to persist through winter), transitional zone (uncertain overwintering survivorship), and northern limits (unable to survive winter). Our model indicates H. zea population dynamics are hierarchically structured with continental-level effects that are partitioned into three geographic zones. Seasonal populations were initially detected in the southern range, where they experienced multiple large population peaks. All three zones experienced a final peak between late July (southern range) and mid-August to mid-September (transitional zone and northern limits). The southern range expanded by 3% since 1981 and is projected to increase by twofold by 2099 but the areas of other zones are expected to decrease in the future. These changes suggest larger populations may persist at higher latitudes in the future due to reduced low-temperature lethal events during winter. Because H. zea is a highly migratory pest, predicting when populations accumulate in one region can inform synchronous or lagged population development in other regions. We show the value of combining long-term datasets, remotely sensed data, and laboratory findings to inform forecasting of insect pests.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e2203230119 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 119 |
Issue number | 37 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 13 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank the hundreds of people who have maintained these traps over the years including, but not limited to, Thomas Kuhar, Bryan Jensen, Scott Chapman, Dan McGrath, Terry DeVries, Greg Mastin, David Niessen, Tom Rabaey, Bruce Potter, Don Hubbard, D. D. Hardee, William Cissel, Martin Spellman, Morgan Christman, Chris Looney, Wade Petersen, Maggie Freeman, Angela Yoder, Jessica Orr, Anna Fabiszak, Soli Velez, Kami Lay, Zoe Meyers, Carson Wise, Lindsey Wilson, Vanessa Soto, James Wirth, Erica Christensen, Jack Bacheler, Dan Mott, Emily Goldsworthy, Steven Roberson, Clifton Moore, Jocelyn Smith, Yasmine Farhan, Melanie Filotas, Brigitte Duvall, Caitlin Congdon, Suqi Liu, Jack Campbell, Dave Boxler, Michael Eskelson, Ira Thompson, Tiziana Oppedisano, Chris Daves, Ryan Jackson, Nathan Little, and Richard Monaco. We thank Alex Woodley and Josh Heitman for their comments on future soil temperature projections. This research was supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grant 2017-70006-27205 and Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grant 2020-33522-32272 from the USDA. North Carolina State University resides on the traditional homelands of the Tuscarora and Catawba peoples whose land stewardship we benefit from daily.
Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the hundreds of people who have maintained these traps over the years including, but not limited to, Thomas Kuhar, Bryan Jensen, Scott Chapman, Dan McGrath, Terry DeVries, Greg Mastin, David Niessen, Tom Rabaey, Bruce Potter, Don Hubbard, D. D. Hardee, William Cissel, Martin Spellman, Morgan Christman, Chris Looney, Wade Petersen, Maggie Freeman, Angela Yoder, Jessica Orr, Anna Fabiszak, Soli Velez, Kami Lay, Zoe Meyers, Carson Wise, Lindsey Wilson, Vanessa Soto, James Wirth, Erica Christensen, Jack Bacheler, Dan Mott, Emily Goldsworthy, Steven Roberson, Clifton Moore, Jocelyn Smith, Yasmine Farhan, Melanie Filotas, Brigitte Duvall, Caitlin Congdon, Suqi Liu, Jack Campbell, Dave Boxler, Michael Eskelson, Ira Thompson, Tiziana Oppedisano, Chris Daves, Ryan Jackson, Nathan Little, and Richard Monaco. We thank Alex Woodley and Josh Heitman for their comments on future soil temperature projections. This research was supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grant 2017-70006-27205 and Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grant 2020-33522-32272 from the USDA. North Carolina State University resides on the traditional
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 the Author(s) Published by PNAS.
Keywords
- bollworm
- corn earworm
- dispersal
- long-term monitoring
- migration