16S amplicon sequencing of soil microbial communities from portuguese cork oak forests. soil metagenome

Global warming is increasing temperature and causing deregulation of water cycle. Many affected ecosystems are located within the Mediterranean basin, where cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is one of the most important forest ecosystems. Despite cork oak tolerance to drought seasons, the increase of temperature and decrease of water availability is causing a serious decline of cork oak populations. This ecosystem is largely maintained by microbial communities present within soils, which are responsible for improving cork oak resistance to environmental changes. The characterization of the soil microbial communities associated with cork oak forests may contribute significantly towards an improvement of the forest sustainability.