Data from: Precipitation-dependent effects of fencing on foliar fungal diseases in grasslands

Plant diseases are ubiquitous in nature and influenced by large
herbivores. Fencing is a widely used management strategy and is employed
to exclude large herbivores in efforts to restore overgrazed grasslands.
However, how fencing affects foliar fungal diseases and whether the effect
is climate-dependent remains unclear. Here, we conducted a multi-site
experiment across 19 grasslands in China under different climatic
conditions to explore the effects of fencing on foliar fungal diseases
(i.e., pathogen load) at the community level. We found that fencing
increased pathogen load and that this effect was precipitation-dependent
and more pronounced in humid areas. In areas with high precipitation,
fencing promoted diseases through both pathogen (pathogen spillover) and
plant (increased biomass) pathways. We provide empirical evidence of
precipitation-dependent plant-pathogen-herbivore interactions at the
interface of community and disease ecology. Our study has important
application implications for grassland disease management, underscores the
need for the development of sound livestock management guidelines from a
geographic perspective, and suggests that moderate grazing in humid areas
can reduce grassland disease.