Abstract
Epidemiology is the science of how disease develops in populations, with applications in human, animal and plant diseases. For plant diseases, epidemiology has developed as a quantitative science with the aims of describing, understanding and predicting epidemics, and intervening to mitigate their consequences in plant populations. Although the central focus of epidemiology is at the population level, it is often necessary to recognise the system hierarchies present by scaling down to the individual plant/cellular level and scaling up to the community/landscape level. This is particularly important for diseases caused by plant viruses, which in most cases are transmitted by arthropod vectors. This leads to range of virus-plant, virus-vector and vector-plant interactions giving a distinctive character to plant virus epidemiology (whilst recognising that some fungal, oomycete and bacterial pathogens are also vector-borne). These interactions have epidemiological, ecological and evolutionary consequences with implications for agronomic practices, pest and disease management, host resistance deployment, and the health of wild plant communities. Over the last two decades, there have been attempts to bring together these differing standpoints into a new synthesis, although this is more apparent for evolutionary and ecological approaches, perhaps reflecting the greater emphasis on shorter often annual time scales in epidemiological studies. It is argued here that incorporating an epidemiological perspective, specifically quantitative, into this developing synthesis will lead to new directions in plant virus research and disease management. This synthesis can serve to further consolidate and transform epidemiology as a key element in plant virus research.
Highlights
Epidemiology is the study of how disease develops in populations [1], in the context of plant disease epidemics, the change in disease intensity in a host population over time and space
Technological developments in support of research in plant virus epidemiology take many forms Many examples of recent developments and their application for a range of case studies have been reviewed [11], including: (a) remote sensing at scales ranging from crop in-field monitoring using drones to continents using satellite technology; (b) information and decision-support systems to assist in the prediction of epidemics; (c) analytical methods for temporal and spatial spread within crops for a better understanding of the consequences of disease control interventions; (d) advances in molecular epidemiology made possible by advances in virus detection and analysis of genetic variation; and, importantly, (e) given the global issues relating to food security, climate change and biodiversity, the need to develop and rapidly adopt new technological advances [11]
Ss well as the need to include an evolutionary perspective in plant virus epidemiology, there is a need and a trend to bring in an ecological perspective on the role of plant viruses in both managed and unmanaged ecosystems [33]
Summary
Epidemiology is the study of how disease develops in populations [1], in the context of plant disease epidemics, the change in disease intensity in a host population over time and space. Technological developments in support of research in plant virus epidemiology take many forms Many examples of recent developments and their application for a range of case studies have been reviewed [11], including: (a) remote sensing at scales ranging from crop in-field monitoring using drones to continents using satellite technology; (b) information and decision-support systems to assist in the prediction of epidemics; (c) analytical methods for temporal and spatial spread within crops for a better understanding of the consequences of disease control interventions; (d) advances in molecular epidemiology made possible by advances in virus detection and analysis of genetic variation; and, importantly, (e) given the global issues relating to food security, climate change and biodiversity, the need to develop and rapidly adopt new technological advances [11]. There are real opportunities for further synthesis by a greater consolidation and extension of ecological and evolutionary insights into epidemiological analysis of the causes and consequences of plant virus disease epidemics; in particular, by recognising the shorter-term (ecological) and longer-term (evolutionary) consequences of disease epidemics
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