Bacterial growth and temperature response data from a geothermal soil gradient in Aotearoa New Zealand

Data from soil samples collected along a geothermal gradient in Aotearoa New Zealand and incubated in the laboratory across a range of temperatures. The first table includes sample metadata (distance from geothermal feature, and mean, maximum, and minimum soil temperatures) along with calculated microbial temperature response metrics: temperature sensitivity index (log[39°C/16°C]) for bacterial growth, microbial respiration, and fungal growth; temperature minimum (Tmin) from the Ratkowsky (Rat.) equation; temperature inflection point (Tinf) from Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT); and temperature optima (Topt) from both MMRT and Rat. for bacterial growth and microbial respiration. The second table provides the square root of relative bacterial growth (DPM leucine incorporated per g wet soil per hour from 1.5 mL of extracted bacteria) for each soil sample at eight incubation temperatures.