Phyloepidemiology
In a new collaborative research project with Campbell Webb (Arnold Arboretum) and Karen Garrett (Kansas State), I am working to understand how the composition, relative abundance, and spatial distribution of tree species in forest communities affects the spread of plant pathogens. Working within a phylogenetic framework for community analysis, we are using field inoculations with pathogens to measure the phylogenetic signal in host range of fungal plant pathogens. We are working both in a highly diverse tropical rain forest (Panama) and a low-diversity California coastal forest (Santa Cruz). Using simulation models and data from mapped forest plots, we can then evaluate the relative influences of host range, host density, and host spatial patterns on the likelihood of disease epidemics in complex plant communities. This work also will inform quarantine regulations and practices by providing a biological basis for assessing the risk of transfer of pathogens among different host species. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation and Pacific Rim Foundation.
Click here to see the Phyloepidemiology Teams from Panama or from Santa Cruz, California

Related publications

• Gilbert, G.S. and C.O. Webb. 2007. Phylogenetic signal in plant pathogen-host range. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 104: 4979-4983.
• Gilbert, G.S., D.R. Reynolds and A. Bethancourt. 2007. The patchiness of epifoliar fungi in tropical forests: host range, host abundance, and environment. Ecology 88:575-581.
• Webb, C.O., G.S. Gilbert, and M. J. Donoghue. 2005. Phylodiversity dependent seedling mortality, size structure, and disease in a Bornean rain forest. Ecology 87(7) Supplement:S123-131.
• Parker, I.M. and G.S. Gilbert. 2004. The evolutionary ecology of novel plant-pathogen interactions. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35: 675-700