A review on the potential effects of temperature on fungicide effectiveness

Abstract

Fungicides are one possible way to manage fungal and oomycete plant pathogens in order to safeguard yield and quality of crops and to improve shelf‐life of produce in agriculture and horticulture. However, global warming and the resulting temperature increase may affect the effectiveness of some important fungicides, including efficacy and duration of plant disease control. Nevertheless, according to our literature survey, there is little specific information available on whether and how temperature influences the effectiveness of fungicides. The very few publications that show specific data are summarized herein. Specific data are mainly gained under controlled conditions, both based on in vitro and in planta experiments. Field data are more or less missing. Most researchers assume that indirect effects of temperature on fungicide efficacy are particularly important. For example, temperature effects on pathogen spore germination and hyphal growth (optimal versus sub‐ and supra‐optimal), whereby optimal temperature conditions can improve pathogen fitness, thereby increasing the tolerance of pathogens to fungicides. Presumably, these indirect effects are often more important than the direct effects of temperature on fungicide performance. However, the data needed to prove this assumption are lacking. Therefore, it would be beneficial to conduct more in‐depth laboratory, greenhouse and field experiments in order to investigate the potential direct and indirect influence of temperature on the effectiveness of important fungicides. This would enable the establishment of appropriate recommendations for fungicide use in an increasingly warmer world and would assist the development of future fungicide solutions, based on improved knowledge.

Fungicidal Protection as Part of the Integrated Cultivation of Sugar Beet: An Assessment of the Influence on Root Yield in a Long-Term Study

“…In three out of eleven years, no significant differences in root yield were found as a result of the foliar application of fungicides. The effectiveness of fungicide application was found to be heavily dependent on climatic conditions also by Greiner et al [46] and Juroszek et al [47]. However, in our own research, this is confirmed by correlation calculations.…”

Climate Change and Pathways Used by Pests as Challenges to Plant Health in Agriculture and Forestry

“…While some higher altitude or latitude locations may benefit from this change, these will likely be the exception [7]. Plant protection and plant biosecurity may also be adversely impacted [8][9][10][11], and thus, improved biosecurity measures and climate-smart plant protection methods will be needed [12,13].…”

Summary of the worldwide available crop disease risk simulation studies that were driven by climate change scenarios and published during the past 20 years

“…Climate change, particularly global warming and altered precipitation patterns, could directly and indirectly influence plant pathogens and their host plants, thereby altering the spatial distribution, temporal occurrence, incidence and severity of crop diseases worldwide (Bebber et al, 2013; Garrett et al, 2022; Krengel‐Horney et al, 2021; Newbery et al, 2016; Richard et al, 2022; West et al, 2012). Disease management strategies in agriculture and horticulture could also be affected (IPPC Secretariat, 2021); consequently, affected ones may require appropriate adjustments in the future (Heeb et al, 2019; Juroszek & von Tiedemann, 2011), including plant disease resistance breeding (Miedaner & Juroszek, 2021a, 2021b) and fungicide use (Juroszek et al, 2022). For example, increasing temperature can reduce the efficacy level of host plant resistance (Desaint et al, 2021).…”