Soil Health and Ecosystem Metrics for Camellia Oleifera Forests Under Alfalfa Mulching

A dataset from a study comparing soil health and ecosystem multifunctionality under alfalfa mulching versus bare control treatments in Camellia oleifera forests on a subtropical karst slope. The data, authored by Leilei Ding and last updated in April 2026, likely contains measurements of microbial abundance, vegetation diversity, and related soil properties. The study found alfalfa mulching elevated beneficial microbes, reduced pathogens, and enhanced soil health and ecosystem function.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between soil microbial function and ecosystem multifunctionality based on the described metrics.
• Comparing the effects of different understory management strategies (mulching vs. control) on soil health indicators.
• Analyzing shifts in microbial community stability and cross-kingdom network interactions as described in the results.
• Investigating the link between understory vegetation diversity and soil microbial life-history strategies mentioned in the study.

Strengths

• Data is openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
• The study design quantitatively compares two distinct treatments (alfalfa mulching vs. bare control).
• The description details multiple analyzed dimensions, including microbial diversity, network stability, and phylogenetic assembly.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small at 29.7 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

Leilei Ding via figshare.

Collection Method

Data collected from a comparative study of Camellia oleifera forests on a subtropical karst brae.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 05:12:08; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Subtropical karst slope (specific location not provided).