The growth traits of Trifolium pratense under unsterilized and sterilized cow dung

The dataset on nodulation, biomass, relative growth rate (RGR), phosphatase activity (PME), and mycorrhizal colonization rate of Trifolium pratense fertilized by the gradient cow dung supply (sterilized and unsterilized). The results showed that the growth of T. pratense increased with increasing dung supply, while sterilization decreased growth by 15-20% (p=0.068). Root nodulation increased with increasing dung supply but was significantly lower with sterilized dung. Both root PME activity and mycorrhizal colonization decreased with increasing dung supply but were unaffected by sterilization., Materials and methods
Cow dung, soil and Trifolium pratense plants
Dung of highland cow (Bos taurus L.) was collected in a coastal dune nature reserve, National Park Zuid-Kennemerland, in the Netherlands (52.3961°N, 4.5921°E) on 25 February 2020. Cow dung was collected from six different individuals. They were watched with binoculars until they excreted dung, after which it was directly collected in a plastic bag. The samples were kept in a cooled box during transportation to the Biology Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and then stored at 4°C until further processing. Next, subsamples of different dung samples (different individuals) were mixed, sieved, and divided into two parts. One part (about 100 g) was sterilized at 120 °C with an autoclave pressure steam sterilizer (Vapour Line 135-B, VER International, the USA). The second part was kept unsterilized. Small subsamples of sterilized and unsterilized dung (ca. 10 g) were dried in the oven at 70°C for 72 hours. 
Se..., , # The growth traits of Trifolium pratense under unsterilized and sterilized cow dung

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cm)

## Description of the data and file structure

The growth traits of Trifolium pratense under adding sterilized or unsterilized fresh cow dung collected in European coastal dune ecosystem.

The total number of samples was: 10 dung supply levels × 2 dung sterilization treatments (unsterilized vs. sterilized) × 2 replicates = 40 samples

The N concentration was 13.3 ± 0.1 mg g-1 dry dung, and the P concentration was 1.91 ± 0.04 mg g-1 dry dung. The N:P ratio was 7.0 ± 0.2. Due to the autoclave pressure steam sterilization approach, the water content of sterilized dung after cooling down and evaporating decreased by 2.5% compared to unsterilized fresh dung. Therefore, the moisture contents of sterilized and unsterilized dung were 79.4 % and 81.90 %, respectively. Below is the table about gradients of N, P and fresh dung sup...