## 3 Results
maydis_, and fields 1, 5, 8, 9, 14, 15, 27, and 29 were intermediate against _F. graminearum_. For _F. verticillioides_, the fields 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 20, 21, 27, and 29 were considered intermediate. While 13 fields (fields 2, 6, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 28) were classified as conducive (all were classified as 'a' in Scott-Knott cluster analysis) to the 3 pathogens tested. The fields 1, 2, 6, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 were conducive to _S. maydis_, fields 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 28 were conducive to _F. graminearum_, and fields 1, 2, 6, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 28 were conducive to _F. verticillioides_ (Table 1). Among the sampled soils, 45% were conducive to all 3 tested pathogens. Whereas 10% of these soils were suppressive, and another 10% were intermediate in reducing the inoculum of all evaluated pathogens. By considering the soil suppressiveness levels of the different sampled sites for _F. verticillioides_, _F. graminearum_, and _S. maydis_, a significant correlation was found (Table 2). Finally, heat maps were generated based on the data of the _Stencarpella_ inoculum quantifications: numbers of maize stalk baits colonized by each of the pathogens (_S. maydis_, _F. verticillioides_, and _F. graminearum_), altitudes, rainfall levels, maize grain yields, and temperatures (Figure 4). The _Stencarpella_ inoculum map was designed based on the relative quantification of the pathogen in the stalks on soil and ranged from 0 to 3 (the closer to 0, the more inoculum and the closer to 3, the less inoculum of _Stencarpella_ ssp., as also suggested in Table 1). The lowest figures represent the highest concentrations of the pathogen. A pattern  
Figure 3: Cluster dendrogram of the DNA qPCR-obtained relative quantifications of _Stencarpella_ _maydis_ by sampled location. The dendrogram was generated by data submitted to an agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis based on [PERSON]’s grouping method and correlation matrix [17]. of lower inoculum levels (green color) was observed on the edges of the evaluated area, and higher inoculum levels were observed in the middle of the study area. Figure 4: Heat maps of the classes of _Stencocarpella_ spp. survival (classes were grouped by cluster analysis of _Stencocarpella_ spp. DNA relative quantifications), soil suppressiveness to _Stencocarpella maydis_, _Fusarium graminararum_, and _Fusarium verticillioides_ (% of maize stubble baits colonized), altitude, annual average rainfall, maize yield, and annual average temperature (\({}^{\circ}\)C). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Pearson’s Correlation**} \\ \cline{2-4}
**Colonization Baits (\%)** & _Fusarium_ & _Fusarium_ & _Stencocarpella_ \\  & _graminararum_ & _verticillioides_ & _maydis_ \\ \hline _Fusarium graminararum_ & 1* & 0.86 & 0.80 \\ _Fusarium verticillioides_ & 0.86 & 1 & 0.78 \\ _Stencocarpella maydis_ & 0.80 & 0.78 & 1 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: [PERSON]’s correlation regarding of colonization baits in soils (%) and soil-borne diseases: _Fusarium verticillioides, Fusarium graminararum_, and _Stencocarpella maydis_. The altitude, rainfall, and temperature maps were very similar to each other, i.e., the higher the altitude, the higher the rainfall and the lower the temperature. Such conditions were not exclusive drivers of the importance of _Stenooarpella_-caused diseases since there were regions where the higher the temperature (>20 \({}^{\circ}\)C) was, the higher the inoculum level was, as observed for the Varginha sampled sites (Figures 1 and 4). However, under the same temperature condition, such as at the Piumbi location (Figures 1 and 4), a lower inoculum level was found, and this was not related to the suppressiveness of the soil to the disease.