A new study led by Anna Schertler and an international team of experts on fungal and plant invasions has just been published in New Phytologist. The study provides a global assessment ecological novelty in associations of introduced fungal and fungus-like plant pathogens globally, linking these patterns to pathogen host-range breadth and other potential drivers.
They found that novel/co-xenic alien pathogen–plant association records were common (53%) and dominated by widespread generalists. Such associations were found in about one-third of alien pathogens examined, mostly within their known phylogenetic host range. Novel/co-xenic associations were more likely for pathogens with larger introduced ranges, wider phylogenetic host range, economically used hosts co-occurring in the region, and host communities phylogenetically similar to the recipient regions’ plant community. They were also more likely for host plants with no economic use and restricted native ranges, and in regions with higher plant SR.
Importantly, almost half of the pathogen–plant associations could not be classified because the native and introduced distributions of many pathogens remain poorly known. The results therefore highlight both the frequent formation of new plant–pathogen associations during biological invasions and the need for better knowledge of pathogen biogeography to assess emerging risks to native and introduced plants.
Read the full article:
Schertler, A., Lenzner, B., Dullinger, S., Moser, D., García-Rodríguez, A., Krisai-Greilhuber, I., Voglmayr, H., Bufford, J.L., Santini, A., Ghelardini, L., Capinha, C., Reino, L., Wingfield, M.J., Thines, M., Talhinhas, P., Dawson, W., van Kleunen, M., Kreft, H., Pergl, J., Pyšek, P., Weigelt, P., Winter, M. and Essl, F. (2026), Are novel and co-xenic associations common in alien fungal and fungus-like plant pathogens?. New Phytol. https://doi-org.uaccess.univie.ac.at/10.1111/nph.71455
