Soil Algae Community Composition Across Wheat Growth Season and Farming Systems

A metabarcoding dataset from a pilot study on soil algal diversity in arable land. The data likely contains counts or presence of algal genotypes across three principal time points during the growth of winter wheat under conventional and organic farming systems. The dataset, authored by Stefan Barthel and last updated in April 2026, is shared under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Modeling seasonal shifts in algal genotype abundance based on temperature and bare-soil availability mentioned in the description
• Comparing the effects of conventional versus organic farming on algal biomass and diversity based on the described results
• Analyzing the impact of crop type (e.g., Zea mays) on specific algal class richness as discussed in the study
• Identifying invariant algal genotypes that do not respond to environmental disturbances as noted in the findings

Strengths

• Data covers three principal time points (March, July, November) during a wheat growth season, allowing temporal analysis
• Includes comparisons between conventional and organic farming systems
• Analysis based on multiple genetic markers (e.g., 23S UPA, 18S, ITS2, rbcL) for cross-validation
• Dataset identifies 118 eukaryotic algal genera and specific responses of key groups like Chlorophyta and Stramenopiles

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Described as a pilot study, which may indicate a limited sample scale

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Metabarcoding analysis based on amplicons from multiple genetic markers

Time Range

Covers three time points (March, July, November) during a wheat growth season

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 05:26:18; freshness should be verified

Geography

Likely Central Europe, based on the mention of 'Central European agricultural practices'