• Effects of D-H interactions on belowground multi-trophic interactions is poorly understood • This review addresses crop physio-chemical status, molecular mechanisms, and their impacts on overall crop productivity under drought and herbivory (D-H) interaction • D-H interactions result in changes to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and phytohormones with cascading effects at multiple trophic levels • Severity of drought, crop species, and the herbivores involved play a critical role in driving the D-H interaction Agricultural crops are vulnerable to abiotic and biotic stressors, including drought and insect herbivory. However, few studies have carried out a comprehensive analysis of the complex interactions between drought and herbivory (D-H) in crops. This review addresses imperative aspects of D-H interactions in crops, including crop physio-chemical status, molecular mechanisms, and their impacts on overall crop productivity. Concurrently, this review also discusses herbivore performance and host-herbivore interactions under drought, along with cascading effects on multi-trophic interactions. Although the effects of D-H interactions on crops and insect herbivores are primarily driven by the severity of drought and the specificity of the crop and herbivore species involved, the cascading effects on natural enemies can be multi-dimensional and cause positive or negative impacts. These interactions are also influenced by the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which play signaling roles at multiple trophic levels. This review has leveraged on a wide range of recent literature, that presents in-depth insights into these complex D-H interactions in agricultural crops, and potential avenues for future with the goal of making informed decisions to build resilient and climate smart agroecosystems. Graphical Abstract. Drought inflicts significant morpho-physiological pressure on various crops including, but not limited to limiting growth, yield, fitness, and altering volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The combination of drought and insect herbivory has various impacts on plant morpho-physiology and it is highly dependent on the plant species. Drought influences insect growth and behavior which can have additional consequences for how plants mitigate concurrent drought and herbivory.
Ayala et al. (Sun,) studied this question.