TY - JOUR
T1 - Nitrogen fertilization of rice plants improves ecological fitness of an entomophagous predator but dampens its impact on prey, the rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens
AU - Zhu, Pingyang
AU - Zheng, Xusong
AU - Xu, Hongxing
AU - Johnson, Anne C.
AU - Heong, Kong Luen
AU - Gurr, Geoff M.
AU - Lu, Zhongxian
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Nitrogen
fertilizers are widely used to maximize crop productivity but are also
known to benefit pest insects. Here we show that nitrogen not only
increased the egg size of the key pest, brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, but also benefitted the predatory mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis
Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae). Predator nymph survival and development
rate, female adult weight, longevity and fecundity were all enhanced.
Importantly, however, high nitrogen levels also extended the predator
handling time (Th), reducing the number of prey eggs attacked per
predator and signalling a weakening of top-down control. We conclude
that nitrogen fertilizer can exacerbate pest impact by natural
enemy-mediated effects in addition to previously reported direct effects
on herbivores. Our results highlighted the need to moderate the use of
nitrogen fertilizers to maintain effective biological control of these
rice pests to reduce dependence on insecticides, another potentially
hazardous input.
AB - Nitrogen
fertilizers are widely used to maximize crop productivity but are also
known to benefit pest insects. Here we show that nitrogen not only
increased the egg size of the key pest, brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, but also benefitted the predatory mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis
Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae). Predator nymph survival and development
rate, female adult weight, longevity and fecundity were all enhanced.
Importantly, however, high nitrogen levels also extended the predator
handling time (Th), reducing the number of prey eggs attacked per
predator and signalling a weakening of top-down control. We conclude
that nitrogen fertilizer can exacerbate pest impact by natural
enemy-mediated effects in addition to previously reported direct effects
on herbivores. Our results highlighted the need to moderate the use of
nitrogen fertilizers to maintain effective biological control of these
rice pests to reduce dependence on insecticides, another potentially
hazardous input.
KW - Ecological fitness
KW - Nitrogenous fertilization
KW - Predation preference
KW - Predatory function
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U2 - 10.1007/s10340-019-01174-w
DO - 10.1007/s10340-019-01174-w
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076892745
SN - 1612-4758
VL - 93
SP - 747
EP - 755
JO - Journal of Pest Science
JF - Journal of Pest Science
ER -