Introduction

Materials and
Methods

Results and
Discussion

References

Project
Background

A Portable Aerial Spore Collecting System

T.L. Friesen, E.D. De Wolf, and L.J. Francl
Department of Plant Pathology
North Dakota State University


Abstract

Sampling the atmosphere for spores of fungal pathogens can help determine the importance of dispersal in a crop epidemic and can provide us with the means to estimate the dispersal distance of a pathogen. We designed and built a spore sampler that was lifted to various heights by a tethered helium balloon. Sampling was possible in remote areas including, but not limited to, fields during harvest. Portability allows this collecting system to be transferred from field to field or repositioned within a field. Tests showed that the balloon could be operated at heights up to 150 ft., in winds up to 10 mph, for up to 6 hrs per day. Spores of Bipolaris sorokiniana, the cause of wheat spot blotch and common root rot, were found 50 ft. above and 300 ft. downwind from wheat windrows being combined. This suggests the sampler can detect plant pathogen propagules being dispersed from a source. This article is only available online at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndagres/ndagres.htm

Impact — A portable low-altitude sampler was devised as a tool to study plant pathogen dispersal. Crop disease management may be improved if dispersal becomes better understood and quantified.
Audience — Plant pathologists, allergists, aerobiologists, microbiologists

Keywords
Epidemiology, aerobiology, dispersal, NDAWN

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Table of Contents – Spring 1998

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