Higher global temperatures could lead to higher insect populations, a study suggests
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Insects may damage more crops as the global temperature increases, new research says.
Pests eat between 5 and 20 percent of major grain crops. But this destruction could increase; corn, wheat and rice yields could decrease by 10 to 25 percent per 1 C (1.8 F) of warming, researchers published in Science.
These losses could equate to 20 million fewer tons of corn annually in the U.S.
A 2 C rise in the average global temperature could result in annual global crop losses of 213 million tons when wheat and rice are factored into the equation.
“Insect pests currently consume the equivalent of one out of every 12 loaves of bread (before they ever get made),” Curtis Deutch, a University of Washington researcher and study co-author, told BBC News yesterday.
The scientists ran several simulations from different geographic locations to track growth rates in 38 insect species.
“We have a lot of evidence of what happens when we turn up the temperature with insects,” Scott Merill, a research assistant professor from the University of Vermont and study participant, told Farms.com today. “Populations of those pests are going to increase, and their metabolism grows so they eat more.”
The increases could affect farmers in temperate locations like the U.S. the most, they found. Producers in tropical locations may see fewer insects because the temperature could get too hot for the pests to survive.
But if destructive pests want to eat more, so do their predators, Merill said.
“Insects that eat aphids, for example, should respond in the same way,” he said. “Their populations and appetites should increase, which could help with insect control.”
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