Impact of host plant quality on geometrid moth expansion on environmental and local population scales

: Ammunét T, Klemola T, Saikkonen K

Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

: 2011

: Ecography

: ECOGRAPHY

: 5

: 34

: 5

: 848

: 855

: 8

: 0906-7590

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2011.06685.x

The warming climate has enabled a rapid expansion of many forest pests. The adaptation potential of the invaders affects largely on how well the invasive species can spread to new areas and in what extent can they have an impact on the invaded ecosystem. To measure the adaptation potential of an invasive (winter moth) and a potentially invasive defoliating moth species (scarce umber moth), we examined life history parameters in two environments on a set of genetically diverse host trees and compared the traits with those of a resident moth species (autumnal moth). In addition, variations in life history parameters due to host genotype were calculated and compared.

Environmental sciences