Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries?
As global temperatures rise, a growing need exists for understanding the impacts of warming on crop production. Warming not only changes crop physiology and growth but also the weeds, insect pests, and diseases of crops including wild lowbush blueberries, which have not been studied till now. Change...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/371 |
| _version_ | 1797483676759490560 |
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| author | Yu-Ying Chen Pratima Pahadi Lily Calderwood Seanna Annis Francis Drummond Yong-Jiang Zhang |
| author_facet | Yu-Ying Chen Pratima Pahadi Lily Calderwood Seanna Annis Francis Drummond Yong-Jiang Zhang |
| author_sort | Yu-Ying Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As global temperatures rise, a growing need exists for understanding the impacts of warming on crop production. Warming not only changes crop physiology and growth but also the weeds, insect pests, and diseases of crops including wild lowbush blueberries, which have not been studied till now. Changes in pest pressures can cause instability in production and will require changes in management practices and the development of mitigation strategies. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of warming on the prevalence of major weeds, insect pests, and diseases of the wild blueberry production system. We selected six genotypes of wild lowbush blueberries in a commercially managed wild blueberry field in Maine Northeast USA and used open-top-chambers (OTCs) to study the effects of warming for two years (2019 and 2020). Both active-heating OTCs (elevated monthly mean temperatures by 3.3 °C) and passive-heating OTCs (elevated by 1.2 °C) were employed and compared with ambient controls. Our results showed that warming did not change the prevalence of red leaf disease, blueberry gall midge, red-striped fireworm, or any weed species. In contrast, the incidence of Sphaerulina leaf spot, powdery mildew, and other leaf spot disease were significantly lower under warming treatments compared to the ambient control at the end of the growing season in 2020. Overall, different pests responded to warming differently, inviting further research to reveal the mechanisms. The lower overall pressure of leaf spot disease under warming was probably due to decreased air humidity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:50:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fbcbb54c9374a48a38331b38bb6e9c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:50:27Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fbcbb54c9374a48a38331b38bb6e9c72023-11-23T18:20:52ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-02-0112237110.3390/agronomy12020371Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries?Yu-Ying Chen0Pratima Pahadi1Lily Calderwood2Seanna Annis3Francis Drummond4Yong-Jiang Zhang5School of Biology and Ecology, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USASchool of Biology and Ecology, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USACooperative Extension, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USASchool of Biology and Ecology, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USASchool of Biology and Ecology, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USASchool of Biology and Ecology, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USAAs global temperatures rise, a growing need exists for understanding the impacts of warming on crop production. Warming not only changes crop physiology and growth but also the weeds, insect pests, and diseases of crops including wild lowbush blueberries, which have not been studied till now. Changes in pest pressures can cause instability in production and will require changes in management practices and the development of mitigation strategies. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of warming on the prevalence of major weeds, insect pests, and diseases of the wild blueberry production system. We selected six genotypes of wild lowbush blueberries in a commercially managed wild blueberry field in Maine Northeast USA and used open-top-chambers (OTCs) to study the effects of warming for two years (2019 and 2020). Both active-heating OTCs (elevated monthly mean temperatures by 3.3 °C) and passive-heating OTCs (elevated by 1.2 °C) were employed and compared with ambient controls. Our results showed that warming did not change the prevalence of red leaf disease, blueberry gall midge, red-striped fireworm, or any weed species. In contrast, the incidence of Sphaerulina leaf spot, powdery mildew, and other leaf spot disease were significantly lower under warming treatments compared to the ambient control at the end of the growing season in 2020. Overall, different pests responded to warming differently, inviting further research to reveal the mechanisms. The lower overall pressure of leaf spot disease under warming was probably due to decreased air humidity.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/371climate changeglobal warmingwild blueberryinsect pestspathogensdiseases |
| spellingShingle | Yu-Ying Chen Pratima Pahadi Lily Calderwood Seanna Annis Francis Drummond Yong-Jiang Zhang Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? Agronomy climate change global warming wild blueberry insect pests pathogens diseases |
| title | Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? |
| title_full | Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? |
| title_fullStr | Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? |
| title_short | Will Climate Warming Alter Biotic Stresses in Wild Lowbush Blueberries? |
| title_sort | will climate warming alter biotic stresses in wild lowbush blueberries |
| topic | climate change global warming wild blueberry insect pests pathogens diseases |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/371 |
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