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LIFE‐HISTORY STRATEGIES OF PLANT PATHOGENS: DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS
Author(s) -
García-Guzmán Graciela,
Morales Eduardo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/05-1174
Subject(s) - biology , obligate , ecology , phylogenetics , phylogenetic tree , herbarium , host (biology) , fabaceae , habitat , tropics , gene , biochemistry
Here we analyze herbarium records, surveys, and studies of fungal plant pathogens in tropical natural systems in order to establish a framework to study plant–pathogen interactions from a life‐history perspective. We looked at how life‐history traits of pathogens and their host plants affect the distribution of pathogens in different tropical habitats, and the importance of host phylogeny in determining the habitat associations of obligate fungal pathogens. Our study reveals that plant–pathogen interactions are prevalent and widespread in the tropics. Phylogenetic analysis of the distribution of obligate pathogens among plant families did not suggest a strong overall pattern of higher‐level host phylogeny in pathogen host range, except that smut pathogens are particularly dominant on Poaceae and Asteraceae, and rusts are most common on Fabaceae, families that dominate disturbed areas in the tropics.