Spain: Climate change enhances the bacteria that devours olive trees in the Mediterranean

Published Jun 3, 2024

Tridge summary

Researchers from the Institute of Interdisciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC) and the Cantabria Institute of Physics (IFCA) have discovered that the deadly bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which has been spreading in Europe and causing significant damage to crops such as olive, almond, and vine trees, benefits from climate change. The study, published in Scientific Reports, reveals that an increase in global temperature of over 3 degrees could lead to the bacterium's expansion further north in Europe. The research also suggests that climate change is playing a key role in the global spread of plant diseases. The authors of the study believe that their findings could help inform future agricultural decisions and strategies to prevent the spread of X. fastidiosa. The study also highlights the need to consider the complexities of microclimates in wine-growing areas when using climate projection models.

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Original content

Xylella fastidiosa, the deadly disease-causing bacteria that has already wiped out millions of plants by clogging their ducts and plant tissues, benefits from climate change. Researchers from the Institute of Interdisciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC), a joint center of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), have studied its propagation over the last 20 years using a new technique to understand What will their future be like in the different scenarios posed by global warming. Researchers from the Cantabria Institute of Physics (IFCA), a joint center of the CSIC and the University of Cantabria, have collaborated in the work. These findings, recently published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, describe how an increase of more than 3 degrees in the average temperature of the planet would be a “tipping point in the risk” that the bacteria, which affects olive, almond and vineyard trees, of the ...

Source: MXfruit