title: The ecology and epidemiology of whitefly-transmitted viruses in Latin America.
abstract: Whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses are the most important constraint to the production of common bean and vegetable crops in the tropical lowlands and mid-altitude valleys of Latin America. Currently, over 30 distinct species of geminiviruses that are transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci infect common bean, tomato, pepper, cucurbits and other horticultural crops. A climate probability model (using FloraMap) was obtained using data from 304 geo-referenced locations where B. tabaci and geminiviruses cause significant damage. Clustering of the 304 points produced a simple model with two climatic variables: a dry season of at least 4 months each with less than 80 mm of rain and a mean temperature of the hottest month exceeding 21 degrees C. A modified Koeppen climate classification showed that 55% of the geminivirus-affected localities are in the tropical wet/dry region, 22% in the tropical and subtropical dry/humid climates and the remaining locations belonged to the wet equatorial and trade wind litoral climates. These findings contribute to understanding whitefly/geminivirus epidemics and implementation of sustainable integrated pest and disease management practices.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia. f.morales@cgiar.org
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002489:Central America; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000821:virology*; D004463:Ecology; D017791:Geminiviridae; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000821:virology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D013020:South America