Data from: Two decades of altered snow cover does not affect soil microbial ability to catabolize carbon compounds in an oceanic alpine heath

  • E. R Jasper Wubs (Creator)
  • Sarah Woodin (Creator)
  • Marc I. Stutter (Creator)
  • Sonja Wipf (Creator)
  • Rene Van der Wal (Creator)
  • Graeme Paton (Other)

Dataset

Description

Snow strongly affects ecosystem functioning in alpine environments with potential carry-over effects outside of snow periods. However, it is unclear whether changes in snow cover affect microbial community functioning in summer. In a field experiment, we tested whether manipulation of snow cover affected the functional capabilities of the microbial community either directly, or indirectly through concomitant changes in the vegetation. While 23 years of differential snow depth and persistence fundamentally changed the vegetation composition, the microbial community's ability to catabolize a range of carbon compounds was not altered. Instead, soil moisture content was the key driver of carbon catabolism by the microbial community.

Data type

Glas Maol microresp data 2009: This file contains the measured SIR rates of the microresp analysis on all of the experimental field plots.
Glas Maol microresp 2009.xlsx

Glas Maol vegetation survey 2009: File contains the data from the vegetation survey on all the experimental plots.
Glas Maol vegetation 2009.xlsx

Copyright and Open Data Licencing

This work is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.
Date made available6 Jun 2019
PublisherDryad Digital Repository
Temporal coverage2009
Geographical coverageGlas Maol mountain summit, Cairgorms, Scotland [56°53'02'' N 03°22'02'' W]

Keywords

  • Agrostis capillaris
  • Alpine moss heath
  • Carbon cycling
  • Carex bigelowii
  • Cetraria islandica
  • Cladonia arbuscula
  • Cladonia bellidiflora
  • Cladonia uncialis
  • Dicranum fuscescens
  • Galium saxatile
  • Microbial community
  • Pleurozium schreberi
  • Polytrichum alpinum
  • Ptilidium ciliare
  • Racomitrium lanuginosum
  • soil legacy
  • Vaccinium spp.
  • Vaccinius spp.

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