Marsh soil nitrification rates, microbial communities, and explanatory variables, May, July, and September 2013 and 2014, Terrebonne Bay, western Barataria Bay, and eastern Barataria Bay (LA)

This dataset contains values for potential rates of nitrification, abundances of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) and soil properties collected from 12 marshes in Terrebonne Bay (TB), western Barataria Bay (WB), and eastern Barataria Bay (EB), LA during 3 sampling campaigns (May, July and September) in 2013 and 2014. In each region, we sampled two pairs of oiled and unoiled marshes. At each site, we collected 5-cm deep soil cores at 4 locations (5,10, 15, and 20m from the marsh edge). Each sample was analyzed for potential nitrification rates with AOA, AOB, and MOB abundances quantified in July of each year. Additionally, we measured a series of basic site characterizations, soil properties, and characterized porewater (starting in July 2014), overlying water and adjacent bay water samples.