Abstract

Nowadays plant diseases represent one of the major threats for crops around the world, because they carry healthy, economical, environmental and social problems. Considering this, it is necessary to have a description of the dynamics of plant disease in order to have sustainable strategies to prevent and diminish the impact of the diseases in crops. Mathematical tools have been employed to create models which give a description of epidemic dynamics; the commonly mathematical tools used are: Disease progress curves, Linked Differential Equation (LDE), Area Under disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) and computer simulation. Nevertheless, there are other tools that have been employed in epidemiology of plant disease like: statistical tools, visual evaluations and pictorial assessment. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages. The nature of the problem and the epidemiologist necessities determine the mathematical tool to be used and the variables to be included into the model. This paper presents review of the tools used in epidemiology of plant disease remarking their advantages and disadvantages and mathematical modeling tendencies in plant pathology.

Key words: Plant disease epidemics, mathematical modeling, disease progress curves, area under disease progress curve, linked differential equation.