South Perth, Western Australia
February 23, 2010
The risk of losses from plant pests and diseases is increasing - presenting considerable future challenges for protection of global food security and the environment, according to a leading researcher.
Principal plant virologist with the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, Roger Jones, has been examining how the expansion of human activity and the impact of climate change is affecting the introduction and emergence of plant viruses.
Dr Jones will present his findings at the Global Biosecurity 2010 conference in Brisbane next week, along with nine other department officers.
“The world is undergoing a period of accelerating climate change accompanied by rapid expansion in human activity,” he said.
“Both of these factors are impacting on viruses and the insects, mites, fungi and nematodes that carry them, known as vectors, which together are causing increasing instability in virus disease epidemics in plants worldwide.
“This situation has major implications regarding man’s ability to achieve effective control of virus epidemics that diminish future global food production.”
Dr Jones said areas where cultivation bordered native vegetation were most vulnerable to viruses that emerge from native plants or introduced viruses that damage biodiversity.
“There are several recent examples of how the long distance movement of viruses and vectors has resulted in major epidemics in other continents far away from where they originated,” he said.
“For example, the movement of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus from the Mediterranean region to China, Japan, USA and Australia.
“There are also numerous examples where indigenous viruses have emerged to damage introduced cultivated plants. For example, Cocoa swollen shoot virus devastated cocoa plantations in West Africa after the crop was introduced from South America. There is also increasing evidence of the potential of introduced viruses to damage plant biodiversity, for example Bean yellow virus damaging native legumes and native orchids in Australia.
“Such examples illustrate how increasing global trade and human movement of cultivated plants are facilitating damaging new encounters between plants and viruses worldwide.”
Dr Jones said climate change would further complicate the situation as changes in temperature, wind and rainfall alter the types of crops cultivated in different climatic zones.
“This is likely to cause an increase in new encounters between viruses and plants, in areas where newly introduced crops and weeds intermingle with the local native vegetation for the first time,” he said.
“The geographic ranges of vectors within continents will also change bringing them into first contact with indigenous viruses.”
This emerging situation is creating challenges for producers, governments and other stakeholders, as they attempt to develop effective plant virus disease prevention and control measures.
Further study of viruses in natural ecosystems was needed to help conserve endangered populations of indigenous plants and also protect cultivated plants.
“Such studies also help to identify potential threats posed by indigenous viruses likely to cross into cultivated plants that might be distributed worldwide through the rapidly expanding world trade in plants and plant products,” he said.
Other department officers will present papers on Mediterranean fruit fly, frontline biosecurity, national biosecurity computer networks, quantifying surveillance, risk analysis, integrated insect eradication and detection technology.
The Global Biosecurity 2010: safeguarding agriculture and the environment conference is a collaboration between the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Emerging Infectious Disease, CRC for National Plant Biosecurity and the Invasive Animals CRC. It will be held from 28 February to 3 March.
For more information visit www.globalbiosecurity2010.com
Topics
Species
