Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests play an important ecological and economic role. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECMF) are key components for the sustainability and functioning of these ecosystems. The community structure and composition of ECMF associated with Q. suber in different landscapes of distinct Mediterranean bioclimate regions have not previously been compared. In this work, soil samples from cork oak forests residing in different bioclimates (arid, semi-arid, sub-humid, and humid) were collected and surveyed for ectomycorrhizal (ECM) root tips. A global analysis performed on 3565 ECM root tips revealed that the ECMF community is highly enriched in Russula, Tomentella, and Cenoccocum, which correspond to the ECMF genera that mainly contribute to community differences. The ECMF communities from the rainiest and the driest cork oak forests were distinct, with soils from the rainiest climates being more heterogeneous than those from the driest climates. The analyses of several abiotic factors on the ECMF communities revealed that bioclimate, precipitation, soil texture, and forest management strongly influenced ECMF structure. Shifts in ECMF with different hyphal exploration types were also detected among forests, with precipitation, forest system, and soil texture being the main drivers controlling their composition. Understanding the effects of environmental factors on the structuring of ECM communities could be the first step for promoting the sustainability of this threatened ecosystem.

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Abstract. Corema album (Ericaceae), "Camarinhas", endemic of the Atlantic dunes of the Iberian Peninsula has the possibility to become a new niche berry crop. Considering the agronomic and market possibilities for this species, the initial research step is the development of a seed germination protocol. We characterized C. album populations along its biogeographical area. The results show that different seeds characteristics differ significantly between sites. We also tested the effect of pretreatments on the germination of C. album seeds (subsp. album) from Duna de Quiaios in 2011, from Comporta in 2011 and Aldeia do Meco in 2011 and in 2012. The results show that there is site-to-site variation in the same year and year-to-year variation in a particular site in percentage of germinated seeds. Acid scarification (30, 60 and 120 minutes) followed by 1000 ppm of gibberellic acid was the most effective pretreatment in breaking dormancy of C. album and this pretreatment promote the best germination from seeds collected from Aldeia do Meco 2011 (30.3%) after 175 days. Our results suggest that the seeds had physiological dormancy. Considering the 2800 seeds collected: 54.5% ruptured the seed coat and 7.7% germinated.

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Corema album (L.) D. Don is the only species of the genus Corema growing naturally on sand dunes throughout the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, noted for the white coloured berries and nutritional value. The lack of information on genetic studies of the species is one of the most limitations for the establishment of this species as a new culture. Thus, this study focuses on the assessment of the genetic diversity based on inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) molecular markers and morphological traits. Seventy-one female plants, from four different sampled sites, were evaluated using six ISSR loci and eight morphological traits. Fifty polymorphic loci were detected. The dendrogram based on the UPGMA method and the principal coordinate analysis classified the 71 C. album genotypes into distinct clusters. The analyses revealed that accessions from the same geographical area were generally, but not entirely, clustered into the same group. Analysis of molecular variance was higher among populations, than within populations. The analysis of morphological traits revealed that there is no distinct separation among the C. album genotypes grown in different geographic areas. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the assessment of the genetic diversity in this species.