ArticleEcology2019
Rain downpours affect survival and development of insect herbivores: the specter of climate change?
Article in Ecology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Season-dependent phenological responses and implications for co-occurring plants and butterflies under climate anomalies and extreme weather events.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2026Article
- Seasonality over lunar phases drives flight activity of co-roosting bats, Rhinolophus rouxii and Rousettus leschenaultii, in Western Ghats, India.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Projected habitat loss and persistence ofBiodiversity data journal · 2026Article
- Effects of Climate Change on the Distribution ofInsects · 2025Article
- Rainfall is associated with divorce in the socially monogamous Seychelles warbler.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Climate change reduces the tension of conflicting selection pressures on breeding date in a passerine bird.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Extrinsic and Intrinsic Competition betweenInsects · 2024Article
- Wet and dry extremes reduce arthropod biomass independently of leaf phenology in the wet tropics.Global change biology · 2023Article
- Climate Change Increases the Expansion Risk ofInsects · 2022Article
- Rain downpours affect survival and development of insect herbivores: the specter of climate change?Ecology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Changes in the frequency, duration, and intensity of rainfall events are among the abiotic effects predicted under anthropogenic global warming. Heavy downpours may profoundly affect the development and survival of small organisms such as insects. Here, we examined direct (physically on the insects) and indirect (plant-mediated) effects of simulated downpours on the performance of caterpillars of two lepidopteran herbivores (Plutella xylostella and Pieris brassicae) feeding on black mustard (Brassica nigra) plants. Host plants were exposed to different rainfall regimes both before and while caterpillars were feeding on the plants in an attempt to separate direct and indirect (plant-mediated) effects of rainfall on insect survival and development. In two independent experiments, downpours were simulated as a single long (20 min) or as three short (5 min) daily events. Downpours had a strong negative direct effect on the survival of P. xylostella, but not on that of P. brassicae. Direct effects of downpours consistently increased development time of both herbivore species, whereas effects on body mass depended on herbivore species and downpour frequency. Caterpillar disturbance by rain and recorded microclimatic cooling by 5°C may explain extended immature development. Indirect, plant-mediated effects of downpours on the herbivores were generally small, despite the fact that sugar concentrations were reduced and herbivore induction of secondary metabolites (glucosinolates) was enhanced in plants exposed to rain. Changes in the frequency of precipitation events due to climate change may impact the survival and development of insect herbivores differentially. Broader effects of downpours on insects and other arthropods up the food chain could seriously impair and disrupt trophic interactions, ultimately destabilizing communities.
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