Drought has negative consequences on aphid fitness and plant vigour: insights from a meta-analysis

1. Aphids are abundant in natural and managed vegetation, supporting a diverse community of organisms and causing damage to agricultural crops. Due to a changing climate, periods of drought are anticipated to increase, and the potential consequences of this for aphid-plant interactions are unclear.

2. Using a meta-analysis and synthesis approach, we aimed to advance understanding of how increased drought incidence will affect this ecologically and economically important insect group, and to characterise any potential underlying mechanisms. We used qualitative and quantitative synthesis techniques to determine whether drought stress has a negative, positive, or null effect on aphid fitness and examined these effects in relation to 1) aphid biology, 2) geographical region, 3) host plant biology.

3. Across all studies, aphid fitness is typically reduced under drought. Subgroup analysis detected no difference in relation to aphid biology, geographical region, or the aphid-plant combin...

1. 蚜虫（Aphids）广泛分布于自然与人工管护植被中，既支撑着多样的生物群落，又会为害农作物。受气候变化影响，干旱事件的发生频次预计将有所增加，而其对蚜虫-植物互作关系的潜在影响尚不明确。
2. 本研究采用元分析（meta-analysis）与综合研究方法，旨在深化对干旱发生频次提升如何影响这一兼具生态与经济重要性的昆虫类群的认知，并阐明其潜在作用机制。研究通过定性与定量综合分析技术，判定干旱胁迫对蚜虫适合度产生负面、正面还是无影响，并围绕以下三个维度检验上述效应：1）蚜虫生物学特性；2）地理区域；3）寄主植物生物学特性。
3. 综合所有研究结果来看，干旱胁迫下蚜虫适合度通常会降低。亚组分析显示，蚜虫生物学特性、地理区域以及蚜虫-植物组合...未对该效应产生显著差异。