Duffy, Catriona (2014) Developing a temperature-dependent simulation model for Sitobion avenae: Impacts of climate change for spring barley in Ireland. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
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Abstract
The last two decades have facilitated considerable progress in understanding the
impacts of climate change on crop sensitivity and production, however very few of
these studies have incorporated the activity of herbivorous insect pests into their
assessments of potential yield losses. In Ireland, the grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) is the
most commonly encountered aphid pest in cereal crops. This pest confers significant
decreases in crop yields owing to its mechanical feeding damage, as well as its ability to
vector plant viruses. Despite the damage potential, climate-induced changes to aphid
populations have not been considered in the context of Irish agricultural production. The
work presented here integrates biological data from various studies to inform the
development of a simulation model to describe the population dynamics of S. avenae
for multiple locations in Ireland in response to climate change. The simulation model
(SAV4) describes the compartmentalised life cycle history of S. avenae in response to
temperature, incorporating immigration, reproduction, survival, development and morph
determination, facilitating the calculation of annual phenological and quantitative aphid
metrics. The model was evaluated using observations describing aphid immigration,
timing and size of populations in order to ensure that it was fit for purpose.
Projected temperature data derived from three Global Climate Models (GCMs) and two
green house gas projection pathways, were used to drive the aphid simulation model for
eleven locations in Ireland. Reported findings include increases in both aphid abundance
and voltinism, as well as advanced phenology across all sites for Ireland. The extent of
modelled change was found to differ spatially, with current areas of spring barley
cultivation experiencing some of the most significant alterations to S. avenae’s
dynamics over time. These findings highlight potential increases in pest risk under
climate change in Ireland, emphasising the need for monitoring programmes in
conjunction with an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach in order to ensure
crop resilience in the future. This work constitutes the first explicit incorporation of pest
dynamics into climate change projections for the Republic of Ireland, as well as
providing a novel pest model for use in pest risk analysis. More broadly, the findings
presented here contribute to a growing body of work concerning the mediating effects
of climate-induced pest activities in food security.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | temperature-dependent; simulation model; Sitobion avenae; Impacts of climate change; spring barley; Ireland; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS |
Item ID: | 10381 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jan 2019 12:33 |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/10381 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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