Lignin, litter, and soil carbon decomposition from soil samples collected from 20 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites in 2019

These data support the findings of a manuscript by Huang et al. (2023) published in Nature Communications (doi pending). We used incubations of soil and stable isotope measurements to measure lignin, litter, and SOC decomposition over an 18-month lab incubation and assessed their relationships with geochemical, microbial, N-related and climatic factors across 156 mineral soils collected from 20 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites, which span broad biophysical gradients (climate, soil, and vegetation type) across North America. The soils were collected in 2019. Lignin decomposition and biogeochemical variables were also measured in an approximately 12-month field incubation.