Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Fitness of Three Successive Generations of Lipaphis erysimi

Abstract

To assess the effect of elevated CO2 on the development, fecundity, and population dynamic parameters of L. erysimi, the age-stage, two-sex life table was used to predict the individual fitness and population parameters of three successive generations of L. erysimi in this study. The results show that a significantly longer total pre-adult stage before oviposition (TPOP) was observed in the third generation compared with the first generation of L. erysimi under the 800 μL/L CO2 treatment. The fecundity is significantly lower in the 800 μL/L CO2 treatment than that in the 400 μL/L CO2 treatment in the third generation of L. erysimi, which indicates that elevated CO2 had a negative effect on the individual fitness parameters of L. erysimi. Additionally, the life expectancy (exj) is significantly lower under the 800 μL/L CO2 treatment than that under the 400 μL/L CO2 treatment in the three successive generations. A significantly higher intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) were found in the second generation compared with those in the first and third generations of L. erysimi under the 800 μL/L CO2 treatment. Moreover, significantly lower r and λ were observed under the 800 μL/L CO2 treatment compared with those under the 400 μL/L and 600 μL/L CO2 treatments in the first generation of L. erysimi, which indicates that elevated CO2 has a short-term effect on the population parameters (r and λ) of L. erysimi. Our experiment can provide the data for the comprehensive prevention and control of L. erysimi in the future with increasing CO2 levels.