Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa

In this era of global climate change, understanding how climate influences species distributions together with their subsequent interactions is a major priority for managers of both natural and managed ecosystems. Using the predictive algorithm Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), we projected the current and...

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Main Authors: Chidawanyika, Frank, Chikowore, Gerald, Mutamiswa, Reyard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academic Press and Elsevier 2022
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104315
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4948
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author Chidawanyika, Frank
Chikowore, Gerald
Mutamiswa, Reyard
author_facet Chidawanyika, Frank
Chikowore, Gerald
Mutamiswa, Reyard
author_sort Chidawanyika, Frank
collection DSpace
description In this era of global climate change, understanding how climate influences species distributions together with their subsequent interactions is a major priority for managers of both natural and managed ecosystems. Using the predictive algorithm Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), we projected the current and potential distribution of Tradescantia fluminensis Vell (Commelinaceae) before using thermal tolerance indices of its biological control agent Neolema abbreviata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to simulate its potential distribution in South Africa. The mean temperature in T. fluminensis microhabitats, recorded using data loggers, was 24.7 ± 0.1 °C (mean ± SE) whilst temperatures ranged from −1 to 29.7 °C. Following 2 h exposure at low temperatures, N. abbreviata survival from 0 to 100% fell between −13 and −6 ± 0.2 °C with 50% mortality occurring at −9.8 ± 0.2 °C. For heat assays, temperatures above 45.8 ± 0.2 °C resulted in 100% mortality whilst temperatures below 43 ± 0.2 °C resulted in 100% survival with 50% mortality occurring at 44.2 ± 0.2 °C. The mean critical thermal limits were 1.8 ± 0.4 °C (CTmin) and 48.8 ± 1.3 °C (CTmax). The derived warm and low temperature tolerance largely matched with current and projected climate in T. fluminensis microhabitats. Model evaluation for T. fluminensis distribution was based on mean Area Under the Curve (AUC), which was 0.85 ± 0.017, suggesting good predictive performance of the model. Our results showed a limited capacity for geographic range expansion by T. fluminensis under future climate scenarios. This indicates good prospects for biological control of T. fluminensis using N. abbreviata in South Africa.
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spelling ir-11408-49482022-07-07T13:06:45Z Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa Chidawanyika, Frank Chikowore, Gerald Mutamiswa, Reyard Climate change Coleoptera Commelinaceae Invasive species Maxent In this era of global climate change, understanding how climate influences species distributions together with their subsequent interactions is a major priority for managers of both natural and managed ecosystems. Using the predictive algorithm Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), we projected the current and potential distribution of Tradescantia fluminensis Vell (Commelinaceae) before using thermal tolerance indices of its biological control agent Neolema abbreviata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to simulate its potential distribution in South Africa. The mean temperature in T. fluminensis microhabitats, recorded using data loggers, was 24.7 ± 0.1 °C (mean ± SE) whilst temperatures ranged from −1 to 29.7 °C. Following 2 h exposure at low temperatures, N. abbreviata survival from 0 to 100% fell between −13 and −6 ± 0.2 °C with 50% mortality occurring at −9.8 ± 0.2 °C. For heat assays, temperatures above 45.8 ± 0.2 °C resulted in 100% mortality whilst temperatures below 43 ± 0.2 °C resulted in 100% survival with 50% mortality occurring at 44.2 ± 0.2 °C. The mean critical thermal limits were 1.8 ± 0.4 °C (CTmin) and 48.8 ± 1.3 °C (CTmax). The derived warm and low temperature tolerance largely matched with current and projected climate in T. fluminensis microhabitats. Model evaluation for T. fluminensis distribution was based on mean Area Under the Curve (AUC), which was 0.85 ± 0.017, suggesting good predictive performance of the model. Our results showed a limited capacity for geographic range expansion by T. fluminensis under future climate scenarios. This indicates good prospects for biological control of T. fluminensis using N. abbreviata in South Africa. 2022-07-07T13:06:45Z 2022-07-07T13:06:45Z 2020 Article 1049-9644 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104315 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4948 en Biological Control;Volume 149, 104315 open Academic Press and Elsevier
spellingShingle Climate change
Coleoptera
Commelinaceae
Invasive species
Maxent
Chidawanyika, Frank
Chikowore, Gerald
Mutamiswa, Reyard
Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title_full Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title_fullStr Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title_short Thermal tolerance of the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host Tradescantia fluminensis in South Africa
title_sort thermal tolerance of the biological control agent neolema abbreviata and its potential geographic distribution together with its host tradescantia fluminensis in south africa
topic Climate change
Coleoptera
Commelinaceae
Invasive species
Maxent
url https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104315
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4948
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