Can plant functional diversity dilute plant virus infection?

Beatriz Aguirre, Cornell University, discusses her article: Plant functional diversity does not dilute virus infection, but community virus prevalence positively correlates with net C3 grass production Greater plant diversity can protect plant communities from pathogens in wild and agricultural plant communities, and the effects of many aspects of diversity, such as genetic and species diversity,…

Plant Ecology and Epidemiology in the time of a global pandemic

We have been lamenting with ecological colleagues (while sheltering in place and communicating remotely) how we used to feel important as plant ecologists studying global climate change. Currently, however, we feel much less important than the human epidemiologists, health care and other front-line workers who are the heroes during the COVID-19 global pandemic. “I measure…