Plants play a crucial role in the carbon cycle, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis and releasing it during respiration, particularly at night. While this nocturnal emission of CO2 from plants is well-known, its potential impact on pest growth remains a subject of investigation. for this read some research papers regarding the effect co2 on pest growth and add summary form paper and my side also they are as follows:

  1. Elevated CO2 impacts bell pepper growth with consequences to Myzus persicae life history Feeding behavior and virus transmission ability: – Dáder, B., Fereres, A., Moreno, A. et al. Elevated CO2 impacts bell pepper growth with consequences to Myzus persicae life history, feeding behaviour and virus transmission ability. Sci Rep 6, 19120 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep19120

Original Summary : When there’s more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, it affects how plants grow and what they’re made of. This, in turn, impacts insects that eat these plants, like Myzus persicae, also known as the green peach aphid, which likes to munch on pepper plants. Researchers studied how these aphids behaved on pepper plants under normal CO2 levels and with extra CO2. They found that when there was more CO2, the pepper plants didn’t provide as good of a home for the aphids. The aphids took longer to start having babies, and when they did, they had fewer of them.

This was because the pepper plants weren’t able to soak up as much nitrogen, which is important for both plant growth and aphid health. Interestingly, the plants themselves grew taller and bigger under high CO2 levels, but they didn’t make good food for the aphids. Even though the aphids didn’t seem to struggle with eating the plants, they still weren’t as healthy as they were on plants grown in normal CO2 levels. Additionally, the researchers found that when aphids fed on plants grown in high CO2 levels, they were less likely to transmit a virus called Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) to other plants. Overall, this study shows that while plants might benefit from more CO2, it can make life harder for aphids and even reduce their ability to spread diseases to other plants.

My Summary: We looked at how the changes in the plant affected the insects that feed on it. High CO2 levels caused the plants to grow differently, making them less nutritious for the aphids. They found that when plants were exposed to high levels of CO2 before being infected by the virus, its transmission was reduced. Overall higher CO2 levels seem less favorable for plant aphid growth and virus transmission

  • Effect of elevated CO2 and water stress on population growth of the two-spotted spider mite, tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), on sweet pepper under environmentally controlled conditions: – Samira Sinaie, Hussein Sadeghi-Namaghi, Lida Fekrat,Effects of elevated CO2 and water stress on population growth of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), on sweet pepper under environmentally controlled conditions,Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology,Volume 22, Issue 1,2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2018.12.007

Original Summary : The study looked at how changes in the environment, like drought and more carbon dioxide in the air, affect plants and the bugs that eat them. They focused on a type of bug called the two-spotted spider mite, which likes to munch on sweet pepper plants. They set up an experiment where they changed the amount of water and carbon dioxide the plants got and then checked how many spider mites were on the plants. They found that when there was more carbon dioxide, the sweet pepper plants had a different balance of nutrients. But strangely, the number of spider mites didn’t change, except for when they were adults. However, when the plants didn’t get enough water, or when they got both less water and more carbon dioxide, that’s when things got interesting. The spider mites seemed to like it best when the plants were a bit stressed from not getting enough water, especially when there was more carbon dioxide too. The researchers suggest that studying more bugs on different plants in real fields could help us understand how climate change might affect the bugs that eat our crops in the future.

My Summary: Higher CO2 levels increased the nutritional quality of sweet pepper plants but did not increase the number of spider mites. While high CO2 and water stress combined affected mite growth, it seems that high CO2 and water stress increased in mite numbers.

  • Elevated CO2 concentration improves the performance of an agricultural pest: a worrisome climate crisis scenario:- Arantes-Garcia, L., Maia, R.A., Oki, Y., Cornelissen, T. and Fernandes, G.W. (2021), Elevated CO2 concentration improves the performance of an agricultural pest: a worrisome climate crisis scenario. Entomol Exp Appl, 169: 1068-1080. https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.13113

Original Summary : In our research, we investigated the impact of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus) and their interaction with the caterpillar species Helicoverpa armigera, an important agricultural pest. We hypothesized that increased CO2 levels would affect the quality of sunflower leaves and subsequently influence the preference and performance of H. armigera larvae.To test this hypothesis, we conducted experiments using open-top chambers where sunflowers and H. armigera larvae were exposed to either ambient CO2 levels (around 400 parts per million) or elevated CO2 levels (around 800 parts per million).

Our findings revealed that sunflowers grown under elevated CO2 conditions exhibited increased growth, such as taller height and more leaves. However, these plants had lower nutritional quality at an early developmental stage, characterized by reduced nitrogen content, greater leaf thickness, and higher flavonoid content.Despite not showing a preference for either CO2 treatment, H. armigera larvae performed better when fed leaves from sunflowers grown under elevated CO2 conditions. This unexpected result was attributed to the larvae consuming more leaves under elevated CO2, even when the nutritional quality of the leaves became similar between treatments later in the plant’s growth cycle (around the 11th week after germination).

Additionally, larvae exhibited an overcompensation effect, where they managed to grow faster despite initially having a less nutritious diet. This led to a significant increase in the number of larvae reaching the pupal stage and ultimately becoming adults; approximately 2.5 times more individuals reached the pupal stage, and four times more individuals successfully transitioned into adulthood.The observed improvement in H. armigera larval performance under elevated CO2 conditions raises concerns about the potential consequences for ecosystems. With the pest species already exerting a significant impact on agricultural and natural systems, the prospect of increased consumption, accelerated development, and larger population sizes under future climate scenarios could exacerbate its detrimental effects

My Summary: It looked at how high CO2 affects sunflowers and Helicoverpa armigera. They found that sunflowers grew taller and had more leaves under higher CO2 levels but were less nutritious. Insect larvae do well by feeding on leaves grown at high CO2 levels. This means they eat more and grow faster, which leads to an increased insect population.

  • Climate changes and cereal aphids: the relative Effects of increasing CO2 and temperature on aphids’ population dynamics: – Newman, J.A. (2004), Climate change and cereal aphids: the relative effects of increasing CO2 and temperature on aphid population dynamics. Global Change Biology, 10: 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2003.00709.x

Original Summary : scientists have been unsure about how cereal aphids will respond to higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Some studies suggest their populations will increase, others say they’ll decrease, and some see no change at all. Recently, researchers made a mathematical model to figure out if aphids will generally thrive with more CO2. They found that aphid populations are likely to be larger in the future if the soil has lots of nitrogen, the aphids don’t need much nitrogen, and they don’t produce many winged morphs in response to crowding.

This happens because higher CO2 levels make plants better for aphids to eat. But, in the future, temperatures will also rise along with CO2 levels, and not many studies have looked at both together. The researchers used their model to see what happens when both CO2 and temperature go up. They found that the aphid populations will behave more like they do now, rather than what we might expect from just looking at CO2 or temperature alone. This finding is important for future studies because it shows that we need to consider both CO2 and temperature together to understand how aphids will respond in the future.

My Summary: CO2 and temperature are considered together in this study. It found that when CO2 and temperature are high, aphid populations increase in the surrounding area. overall aphid. CO2 and temperature need to be integrated to understand the rate of population growth.

After readings all the above paper i understand some points based on that i conclude following statements

Conclusion: From the above paper, I understand that high levels of CO2 affect the growth of plants which affects the growth of insects like aphids, spider mites and Helicoverpa amigae. High levels of CO2 can make plants less nutritious, making them less suitable for pest that affects their reproducing rate. High levels of CO2 can cause the growth of some insects such as Helicoverpa armigera, this insect eats more and grows aster under high CO2 Also if CO2 and other atmospheric factors such as temperature and water combine then it affects the growth of pests.

Overall, I understand that the effect of CO2 on the growth of pests depends on the type of pests it is, and atmospheric factors also.