In this field study, Professor Feng Ge and his team simulated doubled-ambient CO2 level in open-top chambers (OTCs) to explore how elevated CO2 affects wheat plants Triticum aestivum and modifies the responses of the grain aphid Sitobion avenae to the frequency of EβF release. Numbers of S. avenae declined with increased frequency of EβF application under ambient CO2 but were unaffected byEβF application under elevated CO2. Additionally, the mean relative growth rate (MRGR) and the dry material content of grain aphid increased with elevated CO2 but declined when with EβF application. Under elevated CO2, however, AChE activity remained low when S. avenae was exposed to the lower EβF frequency, while the highest AChE activity occurred in aphids exposed to the higher EβF frequency.

These resultsshowed that elevated CO2 reduces the response (in terms of population density) of S. avenae to EβF. Lower activity of acetylcholinesterase in S. avenae may be involved in its reduced sensitivity to EβF under elevated CO2.

This paper has been published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (Sun Y, Su J, Ge F. 2010. Elevated CO2 reduces the response of Sitobion avenae (Homoptera: Aphididae) to alarm pheromone. Agr. Ecosys. Environ. 135: 140-147). This project was supported by the “National Basic Research Program of China” (973 Program) (No. 2006CB102002) and the Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Science (KSCX2-YW-N-006).