Direct and indirect effects of global change on mycorrhizal associations of savanna plant communities

This data set contains a very detailed information on a field manipulative experiment of rainfall exclusion and increased temperature aimed to evaluate the impact of forecasted warming and drying on mycorrhizal associations of savanna plant communities subjected to different grazing history. Additionally, we compiled detailed information on the abiotic and biotic environment with the final aim of disentangling the direct and indirect effects of climate change on this widespread mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Our results suggest that climate change could induce relevant changes in mycorrhizal associations, primarily promoted by warming, which decreased the abundance of mycorrhizae but induced higher activity of nutrient exchange between the host-plant and the mycosymbiont. Temperature did not only affect this symbiosis in a direct way, but also exerted relevant indirect effects via changes in soil functioning and other root-colonizing microorganisms such as dark septate endophytes. Grazing hi...