Soil Nutrient Preferences of Mycorrhizal Trees from 1-Ha and 50-Ha Forest Plots

Over 1,800 soil samples were collected from forest plots in 2017 and 2023 to measure inorganic and organic nitrogen and phosphorus fractions. The dataset, created by Xubing Liu and last updated in April 2026, documents fine-scale soil property variations using a combination of fixed-grid and clustered sampling designs. This data supports research into the nutrient preferences of arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal tree seedlings.

Use Cases

• Modeling soil nutrient spatial heterogeneity based on the described fine-scale directional sampling.
• Comparing soil inorganic and organic nitrogen fractions between different forest plot scales (1-ha vs. 50-ha).
• Analyzing recruitment dynamics of tree seedlings in relation to measured soil N and P levels.
• Investigating the relationship between mycorrhizal tree types and soil nutrient profiles.

Strengths

• Includes 1,888 soil samples collected in two campaigns (600 in 2017, 1288 in 2023).
• Sampling design is explicitly detailed for both 1-ha and 50-ha plots, allowing for spatial analysis.
• Soil measurements focus on specific nutrient fractions (inorganic and organic N and P).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The geographic location of the forest plots is not specified in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Xubing Liu

Collection Method

Systematic soil sampling from fixed-grid and randomly selected cluster points within forest plots.

Time Range

Soil samples collected in April 2017 and September 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 10:09:10; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Forest plots (location unspecified); includes data from six 1-ha plots and one 50-ha plot.