Hass avocado cultivation in Colombia has grown rapidly in area in recent years. It is being planted in marginal areas, which leads to low yields, and in many cases is related to diseases. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) can offer a view of the potential geographic and environmental distribution of diseases, and thus identify areas with suitable or unsuitable conditions for their development. The aim of the study was to assess current and potential distribution of the major diseases on Hass avocado in Colombia. Areas planted with Hass avocado in Antioquia, Colombia were sampled for diseases including the following pathogens: Phytophthora cinnamomi, Verticillium sp., Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Phytophthora palmivora, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sensu lato, Pestalotia sp., and Capnodium sp., and one disorder hypoxia-anoxia. These pathogens were selected based on their relevance (incidence-severity) and capacity to cause damage in different tissues of avocado plants. Severity and incidence of each disease were related to environmental information from vegetation indices and topographic variables using maximum entropy modeling approaches (MaxEnt). Models were calibrated only across areas sampled, and then transferred more broadly to areas currently planted, and to potential zones for planting. Combinations of best performance and low omission rates were the basis for model selection. Results show that Hass avocado has been planted in areas highly conducive for many pathogens, particularly for Phytophthora cinnamomi and hypoxia-anoxia disorder. Ecological niche modeling approaches offer an alternative toolset for planning and making assessments that can be incorporated into disease management plans.

This paper presents an interpretation of sedimentologic, paleomagnetic, and geochemical data collected in the Upper Kimmeridgian–Valanginian carbonates of the Giewont series (Giewont and Mały Giewont sections, High-Tatric succession, Western Tatra Mountains, Poland). The studied succession provides insight into the sedimentary conditions prevailing in the South Tatric Ridge (Tatricum), a submarine elevation located between the Zliechov Basin (Fatricum) and the Vahic (=South Penninic) Ocean. The sedimentary sequence includes micrites, pseudonodular limestones, cyanoid packstones, lithoclastic packstone, and encrinites. The results are discussed with regards to their significance for detrital input, paleoclimate, and paleoproductivity, which in turn are considered in the context of both local and regional paleoenvironmental trends and events. The greatest depositional depths during the latest Kimmeridgian–earliest Tithonian are documented by the occurrence of pseudonodular limestones. A Tithonian shallowing trend is demonstrated via the increasing size and roundness of cyanoids, while the final (?)emergence and erosion in the South Tatric Ridge is documented by earliest Cretaceous disconformities. This process might have been related to both falling sea-level during the major eustatic regressive cycle and tectonic uplift caused by the mutually related (re)activation in the Neotethyan Collision Belt and rifting in the Ligurian-Penninic-Vahic Oceans. The highest lithogenic influx (although still low; max 0.5% of Al content) during the Late Kimmeridgian is considered as associated with relatively humid climate conditions, whereas a subsequent decreasing trend is thought to result from aridification during the latest Kimmeridgian–earliest Tithonian. Ultimately, deposition in the High-Tatric zone was affected by both large-scale environmental perturbations characteristic of the latest Jurassic (climate changes, variations in seawater pH, monsoonal upwelling, lithogenic input, etc.), as well as local sedimentary controls, predominantly the oxygenation state of bottom waters and tectonic movements.

Supplementary Material 1