Marsh soil bacterial communities under ambient and experimental salinity regimes 2020

We collected marsh soil samples for bacterial (16S) sequencing as part of a salinity addition experiment in December 2020-February 2021 in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, LA. All plots contained a native marsh plant community dominated by Spartina patens. This experiment collected soil samples before (Day 0) and after (Days 1-55) an experimental salinity disturbance (750g salt/1m2 plot). A total of 24 plots were used, where 8 were the Control plots and never received salt, 8 were the Novel Disturbance Plots (the salinity addition was the first and only experimental disturbance), and 8 were the Repeated Disturbance plots (plots had received monthly salinity additions of 750g of salt for the previous 2 years). Soil samples and pore water salinity was collected from all plots in the following time sequence post-disturbance to quantify rapid bacterial community change: every other day for two weeks, once per week for 2 weeks, every other week for 1 month. In total there were 10 sampling points, including Day 0, and the final collection was done on Day 55 post-treatment.