Soil Invertebrate Exclusion and Nitrogen Transfer in a Tropical Secondary Forest

A 15-month experiment in a tropical seasonal secondary forest used nitrogen-stable-isotope (15N) tracers to measure the role of soil invertebrates in nitrogen transfer from labeled leaf litter to plants. The data provides evidence that invertebrates increased 15N atom percentage in plant leaves by 59.4% and enhanced 15N release from litter by 6.3%. This suggests invertebrate populations are vital for plant nutrient dynamics and carbon sequestration potential during forest recovery.

Use Cases

• Quantifying the impact of soil invertebrate exclusion on nitrogen mineralization rates
• Modeling nitrogen transfer pathways from decomposing litter to plant tissues
• Assessing cascading effects of invertebrate population decline on forest carbon sequestration
• Comparing nutrient assimilation dynamics between treatment (invertebrate presence) and control plots

Strengths

• Dataset is based on a controlled 15-month field experiment, providing longitudinal data
• Employs a precise nitrogen-stable-isotope (15N) tracer methodology
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse
• Cross-platform presence on figshare indicates established sharing and potential for visibility

Limitations

• Column names and a precise row count are not provided, limiting immediate understanding of data structure
• The dataset size (10052) is given but its unit (likely bytes) and relation to data complexity are unclear
• No information on the specific plant species or invertebrate taxa studied is included in the provided metadata

Provenance

Source

Xiaoyi Zeng

Collection Method

Data originates from a 15-month invertebrate exclusion experiment using 15N-labeled leaf litter.

Time Range

15 months (experiment duration)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24

Geography

Tropical seasonal secondary forest