Extreme Weather and influences on Plant Pests: Extreme Knowledge Gap

Climate Change is likely to increase the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of weather and climate extremes and can result in unprecedented extremes. Managed systems like agriculture are not immune to them. Studying the rapidly growing body of climate change literature it has been noted that there are only a few papers concerning the influences of extreme weather on agriculture. Projections of future impacts of extreme weather cannot always be made with a high level of confidence. Pests (weeds, insect pests and plant pathogens) represent a major constraint to crop production. The present paper analyses scientific literature published since 1945 concerning the knowledge about the influences of extreme weather on incidence of pests in wheat, barley, maize, beet, potato, rape, forage crops and grassland. Only 63 papers were found. Insect pests and plant pathogenic fungi of maize and wheat are most investigated. The most papers describe the influences of drought, dryness heat and heavy down pours. There are enormously knowledge gaps. On the basis of this it is not possible to assess the influences of weather extremes in a changing climate on pests and yield loss current. More research in this field is needed urgently.