Total and heterotrophic soil respiration of montane and alpine italian grasslands

Three lower (~1500 m a.S.l.) and three higher (~2500 m) extensively managed pastures were each equipped with 8 SR and 8 SRH measuring collars facing south-west to south-east. CO2 emission rates, along with soil temperature at 5 cm depth, soil water content and other parameters were measured during several occasions (6 and 4 times for low and high sites, resp.) over the course of a grwoing season (Table Field_Monitoring). During the last measurement campaign, soil samples were collected for microbiological analyses, where 16S rRNA and ITS - based gene copies were quantified via qPCR, and taxonomical distributions determined via amplicon sequencing targeting the same genomic regions. Soil fauna was extracted, determined via morphological characteristics and weighed for biomass estimation. Additional metadata were gathered and included (Table Final_Sampling_Metadata).