Data from: Soil heterotrophic respiration after irrigation retirement is differentially influenced by moisture and substrate availability over time

Water limitations are forcing producers to transition large areas of
currently irrigated farmland into dryland agriculture across the Western
U.S. with unclear effects on global soil carbon (C) dynamics. An
experiment established in 2017 in a no-till, maize system in Colorado
suggested that soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh) following irrigation
retirement was co-regulated by water and available C. The experimental
design has 4 replicate blocks of two randomized irrigation treatments
(irrigated and dryland) and 3 plant treatments (planted, long-term fallow,
and yearly fallow) within each irrigation plot. We continued Rh
measurements in 2021-2022 along with monthly soil samplings to explore the
interactive effects of soil moisture and available C on microbial
community composition and activity. This dataset includes data from 10
monthly samplings in 2021-2022 for soil moisture, dissolved organic carbon
and nitrogen, total and grouped sums of bacteria, fungi, actinobacteria
and protozoa fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biomarkers, enzyme activity,
and soil respiration.