Between Habitats: Transfer of Phytopathogenic Fungi along Transition Zones from Kettle Hole Edges to Wheat Ears.

Kettle holes are able to increase the soil and air humidity around them. Therefore, they create a perfect habitat for phytopathogenic fungi of the genera and to develop, sporulate, and immigrate into neighboring agricultural fields. In our study, we establish transects from the edges of different kettle holes and field edges up to 50 m into the fields to analyze the abundance and diversity of pathogenic fungi in these transition zones by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods.

Infected grasses as inoculum for Fusarium infestation and mycotoxin accumulation in wheat with and without irrigation.

Grasses growing next to agricultural fields influence the Fusarium abundance, the species composition, and the mycotoxin accumulation of wheat plants, especially the field parts directly adjacent to grasses, are highly affected. Grasses are a more attractive and suitable habitat for Fusarium fungi compared to other arable weeds and occur at mostly every semi-natural landscape element (e.g.