CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF PLANT DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY: EMERGING CHALLENGES FOR PLANT PATHOLOGY

Plant diseases are a persistent constraint on crop productivity and food security, with fungal and oomycete pathogens causing significant yield and quality losses even under intensive management. This review analyzes how climate change is reconfiguring plant disease epidemiology by altering the host–pathogen–environment relationship through warming, shifts in precipitation, rising atmospheric CO₂, and an increasing frequency of extreme events. The objective is to synthesize evidence on (i) climate-driven redistribution and instability of plant diseases, (ii) climate-mediated host vulnerability and potential breakdown of resistance, (iii) pathogen adaptation and the emergence or re-emergence of diseases, and (iv) agroecosystems as dynamic disease networks. A narrative and integrative literature review was conducted using peer-reviewed studies and foundational references in plant pathology, emphasizing mechanistic and cross-scale interpretations. The synthesis indicates that climate change promotes spatial range shifts, episodic outbreaks, and greater uncertainty in disease risk, while also challenging conventional forecasting and management schedules. Moreover, climatic variability can reduce the reliability of chemical control and intensify selection for resistance, reinforcing the need for adaptive, integrated approaches. The review concludes that plant pathology must advance toward climate-informed, systems-based frameworks that integrate epidemiology, host resistance, environmental monitoring, and evolutionary processes to strengthen resilience and safeguard food systems under accelerating environmental change.