408 paired soil samples from cropland and afforested sites in northern China quantify active and dormant microbial fractions using CTC and PI staining. Afforestation more than doubled the active microbial fraction in topsoil (2.9% to 6.4%) but slightly reduced it in deep soil. Sha Zhou published this dataset on figshare in April 2026.
Use Cases
- Modeling depth-dependent microbial activation based on soil pH and biomass drivers mentioned in the description
- Comparing active and dormant microbial fractions between cropland and afforested ecosystems
- Analyzing the impact of afforestation on soil sustainability through microbial reversible transitions
- Investigating the relationship between soil depth and microbial dormancy trends
Strengths
- Includes 408 paired sampling sites, providing a substantial sample size for comparison
- Depth-resolved data from two soil layers (0-10 cm and 50-70 cm)
- Quantifies active and dormant microbial fractions using specific staining methods (CTC and PI)
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to its focus on northern China
Provenance
- Source
- figshare
- Collection Method
- Depth-resolved soil sampling and microbial staining across paired sites.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-24 02:50:01; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Northern China