Data from: Trait-based variation in host contribution to pathogen transmission across species and resource supplies

Two key knowledge gaps currently limit the development of more predictive
and general models of pathogen transmission: (1) the physiological basis
of heterogeneity in host contribution to pathogen transmission (reservoir
potential) remains poorly understood, and (2) a general means of
integrating the ecological dynamics of host communities has yet to emerge.
If the traits responsible for differences in reservoir potential also
modulate host community dynamics, these traits could be used to predict
pathogen transmission as host communities change. In two greenhouse
experiments, across 23 host species and two levels of resource supply, the
reservoir potential of plant hosts increased significantly along the Leaf
Economic Spectrum, a global axis of plant physiological trait covariation
that features prominently in models of plant community ecology. This
indicates that the traits of the Leaf Economic Spectrum underlie broad
differences in reservoir potential across host species and resource
supplies. Therefore, host traits could be used to integrate
epidemiological models of pathogen transmission with ecological models of
host community change.