A Handbook That’s Full of Current Topics and Practical Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology

Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Second Edition provides a wide range of exercises to help users learn and practice the latest, most advanced methods for determining the spread and control of plant diseases. Research and extension scientists will use the book to get up to speed quickly and the exercises featured in the book will offer various levels of difficulty to challenge graduate students and postdoctoral scientists.

This highly practical, educational title offers a structured approach ideal for both classroom instruction and self-study. Each exercise has a common format with an emphasis on procedure and evaluation. In addition to the print content of the book, users can go to a special online portal for hands-on engagement in statistical and quantitative exercises. This allows instructors to employ a mix-and-match approach to their classes and the self-taught user to brush up on the latest theory and practices at his or her own pace online as needed.

Topics covered in the book include

• A basic description of epidemics
• Temporal and spatial development of epidemics
• Laboratory-based exercises
• Statistical methods in epidemiology
• Populations, ecology, and genetics
• Disease management

Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Second Edition comprises 33 chapters edited by Katherine L. Stevenson and Michael J. Jeger, who have more than 60 years combined experience on research and teaching in plant disease epidemiology. Each chapter was written individually by authors who are authorities on their respective topics.

Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Second Edition provides basic topical background information of each exercise together with suggestions for further reading. This information, along with classroom instruction, will make possible the practical implementation of the exercises and help build confidence and benefit the individuals concerned.

All exercises are supported by software that is either public domain or commonly available commercially, allowing greater accessibility for students and users overall. For further aid to accessibility, the book’s Appendix includes information on all the commonly used software.

This second-edition title is a revision of the original Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology published by APS PRESS in 1997. It represents the new perspectives and significant methodological advances in statistical computation, quantitative analysis, and mathematical modelling of plant disease epidemics since publication of the first edition.

Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Second Edition is a unique, up-to-date manual for working through topics in plant disease epidemiology with practical exercise. It is ideal for course instructors in plant disease epidemiology, graduate students in plant pathology, extension specialists, plant health practitioners, and research scientists in plant pathology-related areas.

Exercises in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Second Edition

Preface

Contributors

I. Basic Descriptions of Epidemics

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Key Distributions and Models in Epidemiology Using R

Chapter 2

Models of Disease Progress

Chapter 3

Visualizing, Describing, and Modeling Disease Progress Curves Using EPIMODEL

Chapter 4

Analysis of Spatial Pattern

Chapter 5

Patterns, Distributions and Sampling

II. Temporal and Spatial Development of Epidemics

Chapter 6

Chaotic Dynamics of Pathosystems

Chapter 7

Comparing the Effects of Natural Enemies on Plant Virus Epidemiology

Chapter 8

Distance-Based Statistics for Analyzing Spatial Point Pattern Data

Chapter 9

Simulation of Disease Spread and Focus Expansion

Chapter 10

Generation and Comparative Topological Analysis of Small-Size Directed Networks

III. Laboratory Exercises

Chapter 11

Quantification of Airborne Plant Pathogens

Chapter 12

Quantification of Soilborne Pathogen Populations

Chapter 13

Epidemiology Simulation Games

IV. Statistical Methods in Epidemiology

Chapter 14

Introduction to Bayesian Methods

Chapter 15

Use of Bayesian Methods

Chapter 16

Survival Analysis of Time-to-Event Data in Botanical Epidemiology

Chapter 17

Sequential Sampling for Disease Incidence

Chapter 18

Meta-Analysis in Plant Disease Epidemiology

V. Populations, Ecology, and Genetics

Chapter 19

Measure of Life-Cycle Traits of a Biotrophic Pathogen

Chapter 20

Analysis of Population Genetic Data

Chapter 21

Host Resistance Gene Deployment and Selection-Driven Evolution of Pathogen Populations

Chapter 22

Disease Influence on the Growth and Structure of Natural Plant Populations

Chapter 23

Pathogen-Induced Mortality and Its Role in Natural Plant–Rust Systems

VI. Disease Management: Intensity–Yield Relationships and Estimation

Chapter 24

Disease Severity Assessment Training Using DiseasePro

Chapter 25

Intrarater and Interrater Agreement in Disease Assessment

Chapter 26

Yield Loss Estimation

Chapter 27

Modeling Yield Loss

Chapter 28

Exploring Epidemics, Crop Growth, and Yield with a Disease-and-Fungicide-Coupled Crop Simulator

VII. Disease Management: Forecasting and Decision Making

Chapter 29

Implications of Sanitation, Vectors, and Plant Susceptibility for Epidemic Development

Chapter 30

Controlling for Spatial Autocorrelation in Models of Plant Disease Incidence as a Function of Environmental Variables

Chapter 31

Evaluating the Reliability of Binary Decision Plant Disease Risk Indicators

Chapter 32

Identifying Optimal Action Thresholds for Disease Predictors by Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis

Chapter 33

Economics and Decision Making

Appendix

Teaching—Terms of Use (Book and Online Materials)

An instructor may photocopy handouts from the book for use in teaching and distributing to his or her students upon meeting two criteria:

1.  The instructor has purchased a personal copy of the book from APS PRESS.

2.  The library at the institution at which the instructor teaches has purchased a copy of the book from APS PRESS for its collection.

If both criteria have been met, the instructor may photocopy parts of the book for distribution to his or her students. The instructor may also advise students that they may freely use the online materials developed for the book.

An instructor who would like to require the book for a course and to secure a discounted student rate for printed copies of the book should contact APS PRESS.