The effect of host community functional traits on plant disease risk varies along an elevational gradient

eLife

Fletcher W Halliday¹  Anna-Liisa Laine²  Mikko Jalo³ 

[1] Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland;Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland;Faculty of Biological and Environmental sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Faculty of Biological and Environmental sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;

关键词: biodiversity;    parasitism;    community structure;    elevation;    climate change;    Other;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.67340

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

Quantifying the relative impact of environmental conditions and host community structure on disease is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, as both climate and biodiversity are changing at unprecedented rates. Both increasing temperature and shifting host communities toward more fast-paced life-history strategies are predicted to increase disease, yet their independent and interactive effects on disease in natural communities remain unknown. Here, we address this challenge by surveying foliar disease symptoms in 220, 0.5 m-diameter herbaceous plant communities along a 1100-m elevational gradient. We find that increasing temperature associated with lower elevation can increase disease by (1) relaxing constraints on parasite growth and reproduction, (2) determining which host species are present in a given location, and (3) strengthening the positive effect of host community pace-of-life on disease. These results provide the first field evidence, under natural conditions, that environmental gradients can alter how host community structure affects disease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY