Data from: Fungal pathogen species richness: why do some plant species have more pathogens than others?

Variation among plant species in the number of associated herbivore and pathogen species is predicted to fit a species-area relationship in which the area or biomass embodied by a plant species is a function of individual size and geographic range size. This hypothesis is tested using published estimates of geographic range, individual size, and species richness of fungal-pathogens for 490 plant species occurring in the United States and controlling for sampling intensity and phylogenetic effects. The number of pathogens found on a plant species increases with the metrics of plant species' area and/or habitat diversity and their effects are similar between gymnosperm and angiosperm lineages. The strength of this pattern across a diverse set of plant lineages suggests that accumulation and persistence of pathogen species on plant species are governed by the same processes among temperate plants.

不同植物物种的关联植食者与病原物物种数量的变异符合物种-面积关系（species-area relationship）：即植物物种所占据的面积或生物量，是个体大小与地理分布范围大小的函数。本研究利用已发表的地理分布范围、个体大小数据，以及美国境内490种植物的真菌病原物物种丰富度估算值对该假说进行检验，并控制了采样强度与系统发育效应。研究发现，植物物种上检出的病原物数量随植物物种面积相关指标和/或生境多样性的升高而增加，且该效应在裸子植物（gymnosperm）与被子植物（angiosperm）支系间表现一致。在多样的植物支系中观测到的该模式强度表明，温带植物类群中，植物物种上病原物的积累与维持受相同的生态过程调控。