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The 10-year population cycles of snowshoe hares and Canada lynx are the classic example of race between prey and predator in the ecological textbooks. By the use of historic fur harvest data, we find predation is necessary but not sufficient in causing the observed 10-yr cycles; while extrinsic climate factors are important in producing and modifying the sustained cycles. We find recent climate...more |
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Elevated CO2 modifies the performance of herbivorous insects mainly by altering host plant nutritional quality and resistance. We previously reported that elevated CO2 enhanced biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of Medicago truncatula , which resulted in an increased supply of amino acids to the pea aphids ( Global Change Biology 2013, 19: 3210-3223 ). Current study examined the N nutritional q...more |
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Global atmospheric CO2 concentration has been increasing at an accelerating rate, and is anticipated to reach at least 750 ppm by the year 2100 (IPCC, 2007). Rising atmospheric CO2 levels can dilute the nitrogen (N) resource in plant tissue, which is disadvantageous to many herbivorous insects. Aphid, a phloem sucker insect, appear to be an exception that warrants the further study. The current...more |
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Investigations of the effects of elevated ozone (O3) on the virus-plant system were conducted to better inform virus pathogen management strategies. One susceptible cultivar of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Yongding) and resistant cultivar (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Vam) to Potato virus Y petiole necrosis strain (PVYN) infection were grown in open-top chambers under ambient and elevated O3 c...more |
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The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is one of the most serious insect pests of cotton, corn, peanut, vegetables, and other crops throughout Asia. There are four or five generations of cotton bollworm per year in northern China and overwinters as a diapausing pupa. Previous research indicated that transgenic Bt cotton affect development and reproduction of the cotton bollworm, and that a ...more |
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Predator–prey interactions are well established as a driving force in organismal evolution, and predator-related natural selection may bring about major changes in morphology and behaviour in evolutionary lineages. Yet, the mechanisms determining the outcome of these evolutionary interactions are unclear: prey and predators may change in response to each other in a coevolutionary‘arms race’,...more |
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