Paddling Together: Navigating the Crosscurrents of Plant and Animal Biology to Explore Uncharted Waters in Disease Ecology

Synopsis Our symposium explored the relationships between biodiversity and disease ecology across plant and animal systems. During our current period of global biodiversity loss, researchers are uncovering how these losses affect disease dynamics in ecosystems, influencing not only wild plants and animals but also agricultural systems and human health. While biodiversity is often assumed to reduce disease risk through the so-called “dilution effect,” research findings have been inconsistent, revealing important gaps in understanding. A major obstacle to developing a unified perspective has been the historical separation between plant and animal disease ecology research. Emerging from the PADDLE (Plant and Animal Diversity and Disease across Levels in Ecology) consortium, the symposium aimed to foster dialogue and promote cross-system comparisons to uncover broader ecological patterns and mechanisms. A central goal for the original consortium was to improve understanding of “host quality” and to develop shared terminology, leading to the creation of a conceptual model defining host quality components from a pathogen’s perspective. The symposium contributions spanned a wide range of research topics, which coalesced into three key themes: the fundamental nature of hosts and host quality, the role of the environment, and the commonalities between plant and animal systems. Overall, the symposium highlighted the value of integrating diverse perspectives and methodologies to better address the challenges at the intersection of global change, biodiversity loss, and infectious disease risk.