PCLM-D-23-00185

Climate change impact on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) life cycle in Mozambique

PLOS Climate

Dear Dr. Sumila,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS Climate. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS Climate’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Djanaguiraman Maduraimuthu, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS Climate

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

Dear Author

Please be specific to the objectives, accordingly modify the method and results.

Also, indicate a clear hypothesis in introduction.

Please also indicate the relationship between temperature and insect infestation.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Does this manuscript meet PLOS Climate’s publication criteria? Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe methodologically and ethically rigorous research with conclusions that are appropriately drawn based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available (please refer to the Data Availability Statement at the start of the manuscript PDF file)?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS Climate does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Authors have predicted the infestation levels of FAW based on the Growing Degree-Days (GDD) under two climatic situations of RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 for 2070-2099 relative to present situation. According to the estimation, FAW tend to become more widespread causing epidemic type situation. However, I opine that, along with the abiotic selection pressure, it would be better to consider the biotic selection pressure especially natural enemies and changing cropping pattern.

Reviewer #2: I have read the manuscript (PCLM-D-23-00185), entitled Climate change impact on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) life cycle in Mozambique, written by Sumila et al., for publication in PLOS Climate. This manuscript is not suitable for publication in this journal at this stage. The introduction is poorly written; there is no connection with the effect of temperature on the development of FAW biology; the objective of this study is not clearly mentioned; there is no connection with previous studies; and there is no description of how this study fulfills the gap of previous studies in terms of temperature effects on the development of FAW, its population expansion, and management. The MM section is also poorly written; no statistical analysis was performed. Results and discussion were also poorly written.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Climate change impact on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) life cycle in Mozambique

PCLM-D-23-00185R1

Dear Mr Sumila,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript 'Climate change impact on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) life cycle in Mozambique' has been provisionally accepted for publication in PLOS Climate.

Before your manuscript can be formally accepted you will need to complete some formatting changes, which you will receive in a follow-up email from a member of our team. 

Please note that your manuscript will not be scheduled for publication until you have made the required changes, so a swift response is appreciated.

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Thank you again for supporting Open Access publishing; we are looking forward to publishing your work in PLOS Climate.

Best regards,

Djanaguiraman Maduraimuthu, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS Climate

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Reviewer Comments (if any, and for reference):