Earthworm and botanical data from the Sweethope mesocosm experimental site, Sourhope, Scotland, 2001 [NERC Soil Biodiversity Programme]

This dataset comprises botanical composition and earthworm species and abundance data, sampled from a mesocosm experiment (named Sweethope) in October 2001. The mesocosm site replicated the layout of the main experimental plots at the NERC Soil Biodiversity site at Sourhope, Scotland and was established to avoid contaminating the main Sourhope plots.

The NERC Soil Biodiversity Thematic Programme was established in 1999 and was centred upon the intensive study of a large field experiment located at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (now the James Hutton Institute) farm at Sourhope in the Scottish Borders (Grid reference: NT 8545 1963). During the experiment, the site was monitored to assess changes in above-ground biomass production (productivity), species composition and relative abundance (diversity).

本数据集包含2001年10月从名为Sweethope的中型试验（mesocosm experiment）中采集的植物组成、蚯蚓物种及丰度数据。该中型试验场地复制了位于苏格兰Sourhope的NERC土壤生物多样性研究站（NERC Soil Biodiversity Site）主试验样地的布局，其建立旨在避免污染Sourhope主样地。

NERC土壤生物多样性主题计划（NERC Soil Biodiversity Thematic Programme）于1999年启动，核心是对位于苏格兰边境地区Sourhope的麦考利土地利用研究所（现詹姆斯·赫顿研究所）农场内的大型田间试验进行深入研究。试验期间，研究人员对该场地进行监测，以评估地上生物量生产（生产力）、物种组成及相对丰度（多样性）的变化。