Prof. Dr. iv. Liesje Mommer (Wageningen University & Research, Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Wageningen, The Netherlands)
Title: "Digging deeper: Belowground disease risk in diverse plant communities"
Abstract:
The Plant species diversity is often associated with reduced disease risk. Yet, the scientific literature on diversity-disease relationships is unclear, showing conflicting relationships. This conflict highlights a major knowledge gap in our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the diversity-disease relationships. Overcoming this gap is essential for transforming agricultural systems from monocultures that are sensitive to disease outbreaks to diverse cropping systems that are intrinsically resilient to pathogens. In this lecture we will go underground: I will present recent advances in plant-soil feedback research in grassland biodiversity experiments. From these studies in Jena and Wageningen we have identified main soil-borne fungal pathogens, and we explore their behaviour in monocultures and mixtures to learn from nature to build agricultural systems that are robust to disease outbreaks.