Date of Award
5-2010
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Geography
First Advisor
Dr. Kathleen M. Baker
Second Advisor
Dr. Chansheng He
Third Advisor
Dr. Jeff Stein
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
EI Nino Southern Oscillation (ENS 0 ) is a coupled oscillation phenomenon that includes interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean in the Tropical Pacific and is known to be a central factor in climate variability worldwide. Climate conditions associated with ENSO could be a main source of disease outbreaks of crops. Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most common crop diseases affecting wheat throughout the United States. This disease is most commonly caused by Fusarium graminearum and has become a huge concern for farmers over the past 20 years. The purpose of this research is to test ifENSO is driving disease variability and analyze variability in FHB risk. Archived hourly weather data from 1950-2009 for 20 weather stations were obtained from the National Climatic Data Center. Weather data was run through a FHB risk model calculating the potential risk for each day, either 0 for a non-risk day or 1 for a risk day. Results show that there were otwo stations that showed a relationship between ENSO phases and FHB risk, however, there was no correlation between FHB risk and SST anomalies. On the other hand, results did show that there has been year with risk occurring more frequently over the past 30 years for most of the study region .. Results also indicate that there is disease variability amongst stations in the study area.
Recommended Citation
Hoch, Cassandra Lynn, "Impacts of El Nino Southern Oscillation Phases on Fusarium Head Blight Disease of Wheat" (2010). Masters Theses. 313.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/313