Effects of Global Warming on Predatory Bugs Supported by Data Across Geographic and Seasonal Climatic Gradients.

ABSTRACT: Global warming may affect species abundance and distribution, as well as temperature-dependent morphometric traits. In this study, we first used historical data to document changes in Orius (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) species assemblage and individual morphometric traits over the past seven decades in Israel. We then tested whether these changes could have been temperature driven by searching for similar patterns across seasonal and geographic climatic gradients in a present survey. The historical records indicated a shift in the relative abundance of dominant Orius species; the relative abundance of O. albidipennis, a desert-adapted species, increased while that of O. laevigatus decreased in recent decades by 6 and 10-15 folds, respectively. These shifts coincided with an overall increase

SUBMITTER: Schuldiner-Harpaz T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3689781 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature