"IBERYCA"
THE ROLE OF PLANT-MICROBIOTA INTERACTIONS IN THE RESILIENCE AND COLLAPSE OF MEDITERRANEAN HOLM OAKS

Despite being a species historically adapted to Mediterranean drought conditions, Holm-oak (Q ilex subp. ballota) has shown clear signs of vulnerability in recent years reflected in an incipient process of defoliation and mortality. Given the urgent need to promote the conservation of this species of enormous ecological and socioeconomic importance in the Iberian Peninsula, it is a priority to improve our current understanding on the mechanisms and agents involved in health loss and vulnerability to extreme droughts and/or pathogenic attacks (eg Phytophthora cinnamomi). In this respect, the development of new "omics" has allowed to advance in the exploration of territories so far unexplored, such as the multifunctional role of the microbiota, the most diverse yet unknown ecosystem community, and its relation to physiological health. The project IBERYCA brings together an international and multidisciplinary team of experts (microbial ecologists, modelers, ecophysiologists, phytopathologists and biogeochemists) that will use the latest generation of "omics" techniques (metabarcoding and metabolomics) to deepen the multifunctional role of the microbiota (Prokaryotes, archaeas and fungi) in the health of Holm-oaks and their resilience to the increasing incidence of, e.g. extreme summer droughts and/or pathogen attacks. The IBERYCA project will benefit from the 18 permanent plots previously established (2015) throughout the distribution range of oak in the Iberian Peninsule, with more than 400 oaks under a different degree of defoliation described.