Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 29, 2025
05:08
Application of I TASSER, trRosetta, UCSF Chimera, HADDOCK server, and HEX loria for De Novo and In Silico Design of Proteins
Published on: July 8, 2025
691
Climate change and disease in plant communities
Jeremy J Burdon1, Jiasui Zhan2
1CSIRO Agriculture & Food, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Plos Biology
|November 24, 2020
Summary
Climate change impacts plant diseases similarly in agriculture and wild ecosystems. Understanding these effects requires examining host-pathogen interactions and community dynamics, focusing on long-term evolutionary adaptation to predict plant survival.
Area of Science:
- Plant pathology
- Ecology
- Climate change science
Background:
- Climate change is increasingly affecting plant health in both agricultural and natural ecosystems.
- Natural ecosystems exhibit complex interactions between wild plants and pathogens, contrasting with simpler agricultural systems.
- Understanding these impacts necessitates considering specific host-pathogen relationships and their community-level consequences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the differential impacts of climate change on plant diseases in agricultural versus natural ecosystems.
- To highlight the importance of host-pathogen interactions and community context in climate change impact assessments.
- To emphasize the need for long-term trend analysis for understanding plant and pathogen adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of disease incidence and severity in agricultural crops and wild plants.
- Examination of host-pathogen interactions within diverse community structures.
- Long-term trend analysis of plant and pathogen evolutionary responses to climate change.
Main Results:
- Climate change effects on disease are observed in both agricultural and wild plants.
- Ecosystem complexity in natural systems leads to more intricate plant-pathogen interactions than in agriculture.
- Short-term fluctuations obscure the multiyear trends crucial for understanding adaptation.
Conclusions:
- Effective climate change impact assessment requires integrating host-pathogen specificity with community ecology.
- Focusing on multiyear trends is essential for predicting the evolutionary adaptation and long-term fate of plants.
- Future research must address the complex interplay of factors determining plant resilience under changing climate conditions.
Related Concept Videos
01:16What is Climate?
20.1K
Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.
20.1K
02:45Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
14.3K
Every organism has an optimum temperature range within which healthy growth and physiological functioning can occur. At the ends of this range, there will be a minimum and maximum temperature that interrupt biological processes.
14.3K
01:50Global Climate Change
28.1K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
28.1K
02:22Introduction to Plant Diversity
47.7K
From Water to Land
47.7K
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
27.3K
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
27.3K
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
11.5K
Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.
11.5K