Uniqueness of tree stand composition and soil microbial communities are related across urban spruce-dominated forests

The dataset contains data obtained from urban spruce-dominated forests in southern Finland where we have measured tree stand composition, forest management history, soil chemical properties, and soil microbial communities. Data files include (1) microbial OTU tables describing microbial community composition (sequence read counts of Operational Taxonomic Units) across the study plots, (2) taxonomic assignments and other metadata related to OTUs, and (3) measured and calculated variables describing the characteristics of sites and their microbial assemblages (site metadata)., Method description below are summarized from the original publication.
Study area and sample plots
We collected data from 73 forest plots distributed in three urban centers in southern Finland: Helsinki region (45 sites in cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa), Lahti (8 sites), and Tampere (20 sites). Sample plots consisted of four interconnected 20 m × 20 m squares that were placed inside forest stands.
Measurement of forest stand characteristics
All living trees ≥ 5 cm at breast height (1.3 m) and all cut tree stumps with diameter ≥ 10 cm at cut surface were measured within the study plots. We assessed the degree of urbanization around sample plots by calculating the proportion of built land surface within 200 m radius around sample plot center based on Corine Land Cover 2018 GIS-dataset.
Soil sampling
Soil sampling was done between May 19th and July 19th 2022. Samples were collected from 16 regularly spaced grid points across each 0.16 ha study plot. Minimum distance between two samp..., , # Data from: Uniqueness of tree stand composition and soil microbial communities are related across urban spruce-dominated forests

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h44j0zps5](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h44j0zps5)

Data originate from urban spruce-dominated forests in southern Finland where we have measured tree stand composition, forest management history, soil chemical properties and soil microbial communities. Data files include (1) microbial OTU tables describing microbial community composition (sequence read counts of Operational Taxonomic Units) across the study plots, (2) taxonomic assignments and other metadata related to OTUs, and (3) measured and calculated variables describing the characteristics of sites and their microbial assemblages (site metadata).

## Description of the data and file structure

DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: 'Korhonen et al 2023 OTU_table_Bacteria.csv'
1\. Number of variables/columns: 491 data columns + 1 header column (site n...