title: Effect of elevated CO2on the demography of a leaf-sucking mite feeding on bean.
abstract: The effect of elevated CO2on the demography of the arachnid species Tetranychus urticae feeding on Phaseolus vulgaris plants was analysed. This class of herbivores (Arachnida) and its feeding guild (cell content feeders) are under-represented in studies of the combined effects of herbivory and CO2. The growth of bean was strongly stimulated by elevated CO2. The number of leaves on lateral stems and of flowers increased but pod weight decreased. Leaf nitrogen content was 25% lower at elevated CO2due to an increase in non-structural sugar concentration. Leaf water content was lower at elevated CO2while leaf-specific mass and epidermis thickness were higher. Females of the mite raised at ambient or elevated CO2, but all fed with leaves grown at ambient CO2, had similar progenies. When females were raised on plants grown at elevated CO2, the numbers of their progeny were reduced by 34% and 49% in the first and second generation respectively. Later stages of development were more reduced in elevated CO2, suggesting that both fecundity and rate of development were affected. This study suggests that the abundance of T. urticae, and consequently the damage to the many crops it infests, might decrease in a future elevated-CO2environment.
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Unité d'Ecologie et de Biogéographie, Place Croix du Sud, 5, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgique, , , , , , BE.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boutaleb Joutei
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, F-34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France e-mail: roy@cefe.cnrs-mop.fr Fax: +33-4-67412138, , , , , , FR.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Unité d'Ecologie et de Biogéographie, Place Croix du Sud, 5, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgique, , , , , , BE.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Impe
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Unité d'Ecologie et de Biogéographie, Place Croix du Sud, 5, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgique, , , , , , BE.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lebrun
keywords: Demography; Herbivory; Key words Carbon dioxide enrichment; Phaseolus vulgaris; Tetranychus urticae