A study on the affects of temperature on the herbivory of Japanese beetle on soybean

Humans are catalyzing changes in the environment on many levels. One such expected anthropogenic change is an increase in the atmospheric CO2 along with an increase in temperature. While numerous studies have shown that increased CO2 levels will increase productivity of plants, in soybean it also will increases herbivory by decreasing plant defenses. To determine how temperature will effect this interaction a field experiments was conducted at the University of Illinois SoyFACE facility where Japanese beetles were allowed to feed for 24 hours under varying temperature and CO2 treatments. Leaf defense accumulation and leaf area removed were determined. Additional preference tests were preformed in 8 different growth chamber experiments, each set at a different temperature allowing us to separate the contribution of increased temperature on beetle biology versus plant chemistry. Beetles were allowed to choose between tissue grown under varying temperature and CO2 treatments in each chamber and leaf area removed was measured after 24 hours. This experiment delivers a better understanding of how different aspects of climate change, namely increased temperature and CO2 in combination interact and affect plant-insect interactions.