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Presence of snow coverage and its thickness affected the mortality of overwintering pupae of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract

Helicoverpa armigera causes serious damage to most crops around the world. However, the impacts of snow thickness on the H. armigera overwintering pupae are little known. A field experiment was employed in 2012–2015 at Urumqi, China. At soil depths of 5, 10, and 15 cm, overwintering pupae were embedded with four treatments: no snow cover (NSC), snow cover (SC), increasing snow thickness to 1.5 times the thickness of SC (ISSC-1), and to two times the thickness of SC (ISSC-2). Results suggested that snow cover and increasing snow thickness both significantly increased soil temperatures, which helped to decrease the mortality of overwintering pupae (MOP) of H. armigera. However, the MOP did not always decrease with increases in snow thickness. The MOPs in NSC and ISSC-1 were the highest and the lowest, respectively, though ISSC-2 had much thicker snow thickness than ISSC-1. A maximum snow thickness of 60 cm might lead to the lowest MOP. The longer the snow cover duration (SCD) at a soil depth of 10 cm in March and April was, the higher the MOP was. A thicker snow cover layer led to a higher soil moisture content (SMC) and a lower diurnal soil temperature range (DSTR). The highest and the lowest MOP were at a depth of 15 and 10 cm, respectively. The SMC at the depths of 10 and 15 cm had significant effects on MOP. A lower accumulated temperature (≤0 °C) led to a higher MOP. The DSTR in March of approximately 4.5 °C might cause the lowest MOP. The largest influence factor for the MOPs at depths of 5 and 10 cm and the combined data were the SCDs during the whole experimental period, and for the MOPs at a depth of 15 cm was the soil temperature in November.

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Abbreviations

NSC:

No snow cover

SC:

Snow cover

ISSC-1:

Increasing snow thickness to 1.5 times the thickness of SC

ISSC-2:

Increasing snow thickness to two times the thickness of SC

MOP:

Mortality of overwintering pupae

SCD:

Snow cover duration

SMC:

Soil moisture content

DSTR:

Diurnal soil temperature range

CMA:

China Meteorological Administration

MAXST:

Maximum snow thickness

MST:

Mean snow thickness

PA:

From November 2, 2012, to April 24, 2013

PB:

From November 2, 2013, to April 30, 2014

PC:

From November 2, 2014, to April 24, 2015

PSC:

Period of snow cover

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41275119).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Desert and Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi, 830002, China

    Jian Huang

  2. Central Asian Research Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Urumqi, 830002, China

    Jian Huang

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  1. Jian Huang
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Correspondence to Jian Huang.

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Huang, J. Presence of snow coverage and its thickness affected the mortality of overwintering pupae of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Int J Biometeorol 61, 709–718 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-016-1249-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-016-1249-1

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