Global peatland Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) infrared values

This database is a subset of peat samples available from the Global Peatland Microbiome Project (GPMP), and includes the sample name, associated GPMP number, and sampling site location information (i.e. site name, country, latitude, longitude, elevation, mean annual temperature, distance from the equator, peatland clustering categories, and vegetation coverage categories), as well as sample depth, von Post index value, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) derived carbohydrate and aromatic content of 1034 samples taken between August 2008 and January 2017. These samples were collected from 10-20, 30-40, and 60-70 centimeter depths across a latitudinal gradient of 79˚N to 65˚S and from elevations of 0 to 4773 meters.The study focused on using FTIR to characterize the chemical composition of peat. By comparing the carbohydrate content, aromatic content, and von Post index values of the peat samples to the distance from the equator, elevation, and mean annual temperature, the soil organic matter reactivity and recalcitrance was assessed on a global scale.For more information about these data and the GPMP study, see Verbeke et al. (2022). These data were published on 11/02/2021. Minor metadata updates were made on 11/08/2024.