Effects of Surface Topography and Rain Intensity on Splash Dispersal of<i>Colletotrichum acutatum</i>

Abstract

Effects of ground cover, plant canopy density, and rain intensity on the splash dispersal of Colletotrichum acutatum were studied using a rain simulator. In one experiment, three ground covers (soil, straw, and plastic) and two rain intensities (15 and 30 mm/hr) were evaluated by collecting splash droplets with conidia in sheltered gravity samplers consisting of petri plates with a selective medium for C. acutatum. Ground covers were characterized by random roughness, the standard deviation of surface elevation. Infected fruits with sporulating lesions were clustered on the ground to serve as the inoculum source (...)