Global climate variability and change caused by natural processes as well as anthropogenetic factors are major and important environmental issues in the 21st century. The increase in mean temperatures, change in precipitation regimes, and a continuous increase in CO2 concentration are likely the main scientific evidence of climate change in recent decades. Global climate change will affect all economic sectors to some degree, but agriculture, perhaps one of the most sensitive and vulnerable sectors, is expected to be affected very diversely in different parts of the world. The resulting effects will depend greatly on current climatic and soil conditions, the direction of change and the availability of resources and infrastructure to cope with change. Plant disease epidemics result from specific interactions of a susceptible host plant, a prevalent and virulent pathogen and a conducive environment. Consequently, shifts in any one of these components can change disease expression in a given pathosystem. Due to the integral role of environmental conditions in disease expression, outcomes of climate change in plant pathosystems include modifications in host resistance, altered stages and rates of pathogen development, and changes in the physiology of host-pathogen interactions. These effects have been predicted to result in shifts in the geographical distribution of pathogens and their hosts, altered crop losses due to disease, and a change in the selection and efficacy of management strategies with regard to timing, preference and efficacy of chemical, physical and biological control measures and their utilization within integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. As a consequence, current disease management strategies may require adjustment under the different scenarios of climate change. In particular, biological based management strategies (biocontrol) would be markedly affected. In this talk focus will be made on: (i) the use of climate risk mapping tools for estimating the potential geographic distribution of pathogens and biocontrol agents under different climate change scenarios; and (ii) implications of climate change on postharvest disease control.

Tranajo presentado en el International Congress of Postharvest Pathology, celebrado en Lleida del 11 al 14 de abril de 2011.

Peer Reviewed