Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate
Abstract
Warming, crops, and insect pests: Crop responses to climate warming suggest that yields will decrease as growing-season temperatures increase. Deutsch et al. show that this effect may be exacerbated by insect pests (see the Perspective by Riegler). Insects already consume 5 to 20% of major grain crops. The authors' models show that for the three most important grain crops—wheat, rice, and maize—yield lost to insects will increase by 10 to 25% per degree Celsius of warming, hitting hardest in the temperate zone. These findings provide an estimate of further potential climate impacts on global food supply and a benchmark for future regional and field-specific studies of crop-pest-climate interactions. Science , this issue p. 916 ; see also p. 846
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Climate change and associated increases in ambient temperature have been well documented to positively impact agricultural pest species.
“However, climate change and associated increases in ambient temperature has been well documented to positively impact agricultural pest’ species47–50.”
From Atmospheric cold plasma alters plant traits and negatively affects the growth and development of fall armyworm in rice (2025) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- Deutsch, C. A., Tewksbury, J. J., Tigchelaar, M., Battisti, D. S., Merrill, S. C., Huey, R. B., & Naylor, R. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Vermont (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Deutsch, Curtis A.
- Tewksbury, Joshua J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2018-08-31
- Volume
- 361
- Issue
- 6405
- Pages
- 916-919
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2888979937
- Cited by
- 1,549
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 259 · 2025: 215 · 2024: 287 · 2023: 168 · 2022: 198 · 2021: 166 · 2020: 150 · 2019: 95 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 87.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (OCE-1542240, OCE-1458967, OCE-1419323)
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (3775)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Climate change impacts on agriculture
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Environmental Impact
- Keywords
- insect pests, crop yield loss, global warming, rice, maize, wheat, staple grains, insect population growth, yield loss, temperate regions
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Basal Metabolism, Climate, Zea mays, Insecta, Population, Oryza, Temperature, Triticum, Crops, Agricultural, Global Warming
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