Grazing Animals Spread Plant Disease Indirectly
Written by WTJ on December 30, 2008 – 3:50 pm -
Researchers from Oregon State University, Cornell University and the University of North Carolina published their work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing the effect of herbivores and omnivores on the prevalence of barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses. It is found that grazers such as deer, rabbits and feral pigs actually help to spread plant disease, which is contrary with findings that suggested grazers actually contain or reduce disease. Elizabeth Borer, an assistant professor of zoology at OSU explained their study is about the interaction of plant pathogens with the complexity of natural ecosystems. Any small change in the elements of ecosystems can cause butterfly effects with seemingly unrelated diseases, and these changes can be caused by climate change, species population, human manipulation, etc. One obvious example is that the increase of white-footed mice population is correlated to the increase of Lyme disease risk in humans. Although the grazers increase the amount of annual grasses, these grasses are preferred by the aphids which transmitted the viral plant disease.
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Tags: Cornell University, Elizabeth Borer, Oregon State University, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of North Carolina | No Comments »
