Climate and vegetation structure determine plant diversity in Quercus ilex woodlands along an aridity and human-use gradient in Northern Algeria

What feeds onQuercus ilexL.? A biogeographical approach to studying trophic interactions in a Mediterranean keystone species

“…Holm oak not only represents a dominant species in Mediterranean woodlands and maquis vegetation, but can also form mixed stands throughout its distributional range (de Rigo & Caudullo, 2016). Holm oak forests have been reported to harbour high biodiversity in several taxa, including ectomycorrhizal fungi (Richard et al, 2005), lichens (Loppi & Frati, 2004) and plants (Díaz et al, 1997;Ihaddaden et al, 2013). Similar to other Quercus species in Mediterranean ecosystems, holm oak is suffering from the effects of a disease produced by the invasive oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi (Brasier, 1996), which may have been increasing mortality since the 1980s (de Sampaio e Paiva Camilo-Alveset al, 2013).…”