Landscape epidemiology of plant diseases

Abstract

Many agricultural landscapes are characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity and fragmentation. Landscape ecology focuses on the influence of habitat heterogeneity in space and time on ecological processes. Landscape epidemiology aims at applying concepts and approaches originating from landscape ecology to the study of pathogen dynamics at the landscape scale. However, despite the strong influence that the landscape properties may have on the spread of plant diseases, landscape epidemiology has still received little attention from plant pathologists. Some recent methodological and technological progress provides new and powerful tools to describe and analyse the spatial patterns of host-pathogen interactions. Here, we review some important topics in plant pathology that may benefit from a landscape perspective. These include the influence of: landscape composition on the global inoculum pressure; landscape heterogeneity on pathogen dynamics; landscape structure on pathogen dispersal; and landscape properties on the emergence of pathogens and on their evolution.

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

“…Pathogens are vector-, soil-or air-borne, thus landscape elements act as corridors or conversely as barriers (Plantegenest et al, 2007). At the local scale, Mundt et al (2007) reported that, whatever the field size, mixing host and non-host plants (i.e.…”

Soil management shapes ecosystem service provision and trade-offs in agricultural landscapes

“…Disease incidence depends on the abundance of inoculum reservoirs in the surrounding fields, which influences pathogen spread and pressure [17,40]. A high proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape probably limited the abundance of inoculum reservoirs (e.g.…”

“…[16]). Moreover, landscape composition can greatly affect spatial dynamics of crop pathogens and weeds, influencing inoculum and propagule pressure and hence the risks of crop infection and weed invasion [17,18]. Interactions between local management and landscape composition have been principally investigated in relation to one specific service (e.g.…”

Relationship between the abundance of aphids and their natural enemies in cereal fields and landscape composition

“…However, the use of pesticides has not completely prevented pest outbreaks and subsequent losses of yield (Wilson et al 2001;oerke 2006), because the pests have either become resistant to pesticides and/ or there has been a breakdown in ecological processes like pollination, ecological functioning of the soil and biological control (lewis et al 1997;Plantegenest et al 2007). in addition, there are many reports of pesticides adversely affecting man (benton 2003;lee 2004;ameixa and Kindlmann 2011a).…”