Experts Review Crop Pests' Responses to Climate and Land Management Changes

Hebei University scientists released a compilation of evidence on how tropical, temperate, migratory and soil crop pests respond to changes in climate, land use, and agricultural practices. Their review article is published in Nature.

According to the review, crop pests are responding to warming with expanded geographic ranges, advanced phenological events, and an increased number of reproductive generations per year. Other key findings include the following:

• Climate warming is expanding pest ranges to higher latitudes and elevations, disrupting their life cycles and weakening cold tolerance. 
• Migratory pests are adapting well to global change due to their stress tolerance and ability to follow suitable habitats. 
• Agricultural practices like irrigation and monoculture can favor pests, while land use changes like deforestation exacerbate the problem by modifying local climates and natural pest controls. 
• Key crop pests, such as aphids, borers, and caterpillars, are seeing altered distributions and increased damage due to warming. Consequently, yield losses and pesticide use are rising, a trend expected to continue under future climate extremes. 

The experts recommend sustainable pest management can enhance natural pest control and help reduce heavy reliance on pesticides.

Read the review article from Nature.