Climate change and the risk of spread of the fungus from the high mortality of Theobroma cocoa in Latin America

Challenges for research on global change in mainland Ecuador

“…Theobroma cocoa, or cacao, is now grown throughout the Ecuadorian humid lowlands, and the commodity crop is rapidly gaining cultural, economic and ecological importance [47]. Cacao diseases like frosty pod, caused by Moniliophthora roreri, and witches' broom, caused by M. perniciosa, can have severe impacts on crop production and yields [48,49]. Ortega-Andrade et al [49] combined species potential distribution models with future climate scenarios from HADCM3 to assess the potential impacts of climate change on M. roreri and T. cocoa distribution in Latin America.…”

“…Cacao diseases like frosty pod, caused by Moniliophthora roreri, and witches' broom, caused by M. perniciosa, can have severe impacts on crop production and yields [48,49]. Ortega-Andrade et al [49] combined species potential distribution models with future climate scenarios from HADCM3 to assess the potential impacts of climate change on M. roreri and T. cocoa distribution in Latin America. Their results suggest that the precipitation during the wettest month is most influential variable for presence and proliferation of the fungus M. roreri.…”

“…Their results suggest that the precipitation during the wettest month is most influential variable for presence and proliferation of the fungus M. roreri. The authors recommend policy makers to invest in a "monitoring system allowing early warning and control of incipient outbreaks" [49].…”

“…In the last paper of this special collection, Cadilhac et al [50] present a preliminary state-of-the-art of climate change research based on a review of climatechange-related projects realized by Ecuadorian public research institutions and higher education institutions. Their online survey shows that research topics related to vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are relatively well covered, with a considerable number of projects emphasizing the impact on ecosystem services [13,16], biodiversity [41,42], agriculture [49] and health [51]. From the interinstitutional dialogue with policy makers, practitioners and professionals from government agencies, international organizations and NGOs, future research needs were identified in the field of [1] metrics that support technical analysis on mitigation, adaptation and greenhouse gas inventories [2], social impacts of climate change, governance and institutionalism [3], replicability of climate change studies and [4] traditional knowledge.…”

Desafíos para la investigación sobre el cambio climático en Ecuador

“…Con relación al sector agrícola existen estudios acerca de las afectaciones en el T. Cacao debido a la enfermedad 'podredumbre del cacao' ocasionada por la propagación del hongo Moniliophthora roreri, lo cual se debería a una distribución potencial de la enfermedad en los cultivos de la citada especie de cacao como consecuencia de los cambios en las condiciones climáticas [29]. De acuerdo con investigaciones sobre los efectos del cambio climático en la biodiversidad, los factores de estrés resultantes afectan la diversidad biológica o el desempeño orgánico, la distribución espacial de las especies, las tasas de crecimiento poblacional asociadas, al igual que las tasas de crecimiento de plantas y establecimiento de semilleros.…”