Conflicting effects of climate, vector behavior on spread of plant disease

To better understand the effects of climate change on agroecosystems, researchers conducted one of the first transdisciplinary studies on the effects of temperature change, leafhopper vector behavior, and the spread of Pierce’s disease on grapevines. The results show that, although a warming climate may exacerbate disease symptoms in infected grapevines, innate vector behavior may set an upper limit on the extent of Pierce’s disease spread.