title: Local context drives infection of grasses by vector-borne generalist viruses.
abstract: Host characteristics commonly determine infection risk, but infection can also be mediated by regional- or local-scale variation in the biotic and abiotic environment. Experiments can clarify the relative importance of these factors. We quantified drivers of infection by barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDV), a group of generalist, vector-borne grass pathogens, at hierarchically nested spatial scales (10(5)-1 m) by planting individuals of six common grass species into five Pacific Coast grassland sites spanning 7 degrees of latitude (> 5000 total hosts) and applying a factorial combination of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer. Infection differed most among experimental blocks (10(2)-10(3) m scale), suggesting that local factors control infection risk; infection increased with cover of long-lived hosts and phosphorus, but not nitrogen, fertilization. For B/CYDV, local context more strongly predicts infection risk than host species traits or regional context; such spatially nested experiments can clarify the factors underlying variation in infection risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. borer@umn.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Borer
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Seabloom
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Alison G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Power
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000502:physiology; D004199:Disease Vectors; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000821:virology*