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1000
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Abstract/Summary
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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 Fusarium and Alternaria 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. However, in 2019 and 2020, low precipitation and higher temperatures
compared to the long-time average were measured, which led to limited infections of weeds in
the transition zones with Fusarium and Alternaria. Therefore, the hypothesized significantly higher
infection of wheat plants next to the kettle holes by a strong spread of fungal spores was not detected.
Infestation patterns of Fusarium and Alternaria fungi on weeds and wheat ears were spatially different.
In total, 9 different Fusarium species were found in the transition zone. The species diversity at kettle
holes differed from 0 to 6 species. The trend toward increased dryness in the northeast German
agricultural landscape and its impact on the changing severity of fungal infections is discussed.
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