Stratified Microbial And Chemical Profiles In Humid Mining Biocrusts

A dataset from a study integrating physicochemical characterization and bioinformatic analysis of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in humid mining regions. It reveals stratified microbial communities and metabolic potentials across an upper photoautotrophic layer and a lower heterotrophic layer. The dataset was authored by Zekai Feng and uploaded to figshare in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze correlations between microbial taxa (e.g., Cyanobacteria, SWB02, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Desulfobacterota) and physicochemical measurements like clay-silt enrichment or extracellular polysaccharide levels.
• Model the relationship between gene abundance data (e.g., hydB, phsC) and the presence of sulfides at specific soil depths.
• Investigate the stratified functionality of biocrust layers by comparing data features from the photoautotrophic layer (PL) and heterotrophic layer (HL).
• Study the role of iron-manganese oxide immobilization associated with specific microbial groups in the upper crust layer.

Strengths

• Data integrates multiple analysis types: physicochemical characterization and bioinformatic analysis of microbial communities.
• Includes specific, quantified findings such as 2.8-fold higher clay-silt enrichment and 18-fold extracellular polysaccharide accumulation in the upper layer.

Limitations

• The dataset is small at 1.4 MB, indicating limited row count or feature breadth.
• Spatial coverage is limited to humid mining regions, reducing generalizability to arid or other environments.
• Specific sample size (row count) and column details are unknown, hindering assessment of statistical power.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Zekai Feng.

Collection Method

Integrated physicochemical characterization with bioinformatic analysis of biocrust samples from humid tailings.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026, indicating recent data.

Geography

Humid mining regions (specific locations not stated).