Contrasting effects of mammal grazing on foliar fungal diseases: patterns and potential mechanisms

Plant pathogens and their hosts often coexist with mammal grazers. However, the direction strength of grazing effects on foliar fungal diseases can be idiosyncratic, varying among host plant species pathogen types. We combined a 6 yr yak-grazing experiment, clipping experiment simulating different consumption patterns (leaf damage vs whole-leaf removal), meta-analysis 63 comparisons to evaluate how impacts across growth types (grass forb) life histories (biotroph necrotroph). In had no significant effect disease severity, grasses experienced higher severity than forbs; there was interaction between type grazing. both meta-analysis, decreased biotrophic (mainly rusts powdery mildew), but did not affect necrotrophic leaf spots). The suggested that grazers might promote infection by producing wounds leaves, inhibit via removal. conclusion, our three-part approach revealed intrinsic properties plants shape in natural ecosystems, greatly improving ability predict under