Transmission of Pathogens Between Plants

Plants cannot move around or expel droplets containing pathogens into the air.Instead, the spread by direct transmission involves the contact between a healthy plant and any part of a diseased plant.Indirect transmission is through soil contamination and vectors such as the wind, water, animals and humans.A number of factors affect the transmission of communicable diseases in plants.Overcrowding, planting varieties of plants that are susceptible to disease, poor mineral nutrition and damp wet conditions increase the risk of transmission.Climate change may increase rainfall and wind in some areas, promoting the spread of disease.In other instances, drier condition increase the spread of other diseases.The introduction of animals vectors to new areas they can survive in due to higher temperatures and more rainfall can introduce new diseases into new areas.