Global peatlands - microbiological data

Nitrous oxide fluxes, microbiological (sequencing, qPCR) and soil physicochemical parameters data of peatlands globally. We sampled gas and soil in 29 regions throughout the A (rainy tropical), C (temperate), and D (boreal) climate types of the Köppen classification from six continents during the vegetation period between August 2011 and June 2018, following a standard protocol. Within the sites, we established 1–4 stations 15–500 m apart to maximize the captured environmental variation. Each of the 196 stations were equipped with 3–5 opaque PVC 65 L truncated conical chambers 1.5–5 m apart and an observation well. From each of the 645 chambers, N2O fluxes were measured following the static chamber method using PVC collars. Soil samples of 150–200 g were collected from the chambers at 0–10 cm depth after the final gas sampling, and transported to laboratories in Tartu, Estonia. The homogenized samples were divided into subsamples for physical–chemical analyses and DNA extraction. Soil physico-chemical analysis, DNA extraction, DNA library preparation, sequencing, and quantitative PCR were performed.