Poor plant performance under simulated climate change is linked to mycorrhizal responses in a semi-arid shrubland

We conducted a 4-year manipulative study in a semiarid Mediterranean shrubland in Central Spain to investigate the responses of the native shrub Helianthemum squamatum (Cistaceae) to forecasted climate change. The climate manipulation treatments evaluated were Warming (W, 2.7º C increase in mean annual temperature), Rainfall Reduction (RR, 30% rainfall exclusion) and Warming + Rainfall Reduction (W+RR) (n=8). We evaluated the plant response in terms of photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, transpiration, leaf nutrient content and water use efficiency. Further, we pyrosequenced the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and obtained 176,702 sequences (raw sequences submitted to ENA).