Field Translocation of Mountain Pine Beetles Suggests Phoretic Mite Communities Are Locally Adapted, and Mite Populations Respond Variably to Climate Warming.

ABSTRACT: Temperature is a key determining factor in the population dynamics of forest insects and their associated biota. Bark beetles, often considered key agents of change in forest ecosystems, are particularly affected by warming in their environment. Beetles associate with various phoretic mite species that have direct/indirect effects on beetle fitness and population dynamics, although there is limited knowledge of how temperature affects these communities. Here, we use a field reciprocal translocation experiment with the addition of a novel "warming" environment to represent future changes in local environment in two populations of a keystone bark beetle species (Dendroctonus ponderosae). We hypothesize that mite community abundances as carried by bark beetles are significantly altered when n

SUBMITTER: Vissa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7913132 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature