Crop archive shows pollution link

Scientists have used the world’s oldest, continually running field experiment to show how air pollution affects fungal diseases in wheat.

Dr Bart Fraaije and his team used these to show a relationship between two fungal pathogens in plants and the amount of atmospheric sulphur dioxide.

The species, Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella graminicola, are responsible for leaf blotch, which causes the loss of millions of tonnes of grain worldwide each year.
The results of the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, show the pattern of relative abundance of the pathogens is strongly linked to changes in the atmospheric emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2).

As SO2 emissions rose during and after the industrial revolution, P. nodorum became prevalent, whilst M. graminicola was scarce.

However, coal burning has declined dramatically over the past 20 years, leading to a decline in SO2 emissions, and the situation is now reversed, with M. graminicola more common.

BBC