This subproject aims to experimentally determine the long-term impact of climate change and the exotic pathogens on the plant and microbial diversity of the quercine forests, using the cork oak (Quercus suber) as a case study. To this end, a climate change infrastructure installed in the Los Alcornocales Natural Park (Cádiz) in 2016 will be used, where drier and warmer future climate scenarios are reproduced through rain exclusion gutters and passive heat chambers. These forests are invaded by the aggressive exotic pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. In this study, field samples of vegetation, roots and soils will be combined with laboratory molecular analyzes to determine the abundance and diversity of the edaphic microbiome in the different scenarios of the considered global changes.
Home » WP7: Improve the sustainability of the mediterranean forests and silvopastoral agrosystems under climate change » Impacts of climate change on forest biodiversity (LWE2103023)