Five species of sap‐feeding homoptera were studied on Fagus sylvatica and Acer pseudoplatanus and exposed to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (600 μL L –1 ). The concentration of total soluble amino acids in foliage of F. sylvatica was unaffected by growing saplings in elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Although experiments on individual aphids indicated poorer performance of Phyllaphis fagi (fewer, smaller nymphs produced), resultant populations did not differ from those in ambient (350 μL L –1 ) conditions. The area of beech foliage stippled by the leafhopper Fagocyba cruenta was similar at ambient and elevated CO 2 concentrations. The concentration of total amino acids and that of serine of A. pseudoplatanus foliage were significantly lower at elevated CO 2 concentrations. However, the relative growth rates of two aphid species Drepanosiphum platanoidis and Periphyllus testudinaceus and one leafhopper Ossiannilssonola callosa were not significantly different in elevated CO 2 . No evidence was found that, under the conditions of these experiments, populations of aphids and leafhoppers will change as concentrations of CO 2 increase.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Docherty et al. (1997) studied this question.