Insect Pests
Spatial Modelling of Insect Pests under Climate Change
Climate often plays a decisive role in the proliferation and spread of pests and pathogens. The abundance and the generation time of insects depend primarily on ambient temperature. Both climate change and the import of pests is expected to increase the pressure on crop plants.
This project investigates the possible impact of harmful invasive insect pests on Swiss agriculture under future climate change scenarios. It focusses on the current distribution of insect pest species, the shift of their ranges caused by future climate change and the risk of invasion they will imply for agriculture. The outcomes of the project will inform on the risk of occurrence of new invasive insect pest species and contribute to the development and implementation of novel crop protection strategies.
The project is a collaboration between Agroscope (which is affiliated with the Federal Office for Agriculture) and the ETH Zurich. The project is designed to contribute to the new national initiative ‘National Centre for Climate Services’ (NCCS).
