Impacts of climate change on plant diseases—opinions and trends

Abstract

There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases. This overview addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies ontheimpactsofclimatechangeonplant health.Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Cali- fornian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronic- ity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and pre- dicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Predic- tion and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertain- ty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to in- terdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in moun- tain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (includ- ing our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycor- rhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods.