Soil microbial carbon cycling parameters, necromass carbon content, and soil-environmental properties for two experimental systems over a 3.4 km elevation gradient in Peru

Data are soil properties (with some environmental metadata) for two experimental systems: 1) transect: 14 forest sites across a 3.4km elevation transect in the Peruvian Andes and 2) translocation: samples collected from 50cm deep 10cm diameter soil cores that were translocated for 11 years across 4 sites for the same elevation gradient, representing a long-term temperature manipulation. Soil samples were collected using a soil auger (3 cm diameter) at 0-20 cm mineral soil depth, with five subsamples collected per plot corner, and the subsamples were mixed into one sample per plot corner. The total C data reported are for surface soils (0-10 cm depth), with 4 spatial replicates across each 1-ha plot. For the translocation soil samples (replication of three for each of the 'soil origin' and each 'site destination'), soils were collected from the translocated soil cores using a 3-cm diameter auger to collect mineral soil at 0-20 cm depth for all samples.

Processing: Soil chemical and enzyme data determined and processed at the biogeochemical laboratory at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; amino sugar data determined and processed at the University of Helsinki; CUE data determined and processed at The University of Vienna. Data were assessed using standard quality control protocols (internal standards, blanks, calibrations) at each respective laboratory facility for data generation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, University of Vienna, University of Helsinki. All data were assessed during 2020-2021.

Data limitations: This study uses a space-for-time approach to study long-term temperature effects on soil carbon cycling. Therefore insights into temperature response of soil carbon cycling properties based on these data require consideration of the specific characteristics of these experimental sites, such as co-variation in rainfall, soil geology and plant communities. In addition, the translocation experiment uses a reductionist approach to isolate soil processes in the absence of plant root systems and data reflect an 11 year temperature treatment in the absence of plant roots.