Data from: Desiccation and rehydration of mosses greatly increases resource fluxes that alter soil carbon and nitrogen cycling

1. Mosses often have positive effects on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling,
but we know little about how environmentally determined cycles of
desiccation and rehydration in mosses influence these processes. 2. In
this context, we compared carbon and nitrogen in throughfall after
precipitation passed through eight moss species that were either hydrated
continuously or desiccated and rehydrated. Also, the throughfall of four
moss species was added to soil and used to determine the net effect of
carbon and nitrogen added in moss throughfall on soil CO2 and N2O efflux.
3. Depending on the species, desiccated-rehydrated (rehydrated) mosses
lost 2-31 times more carbon in throughfall than mosses that were
continuously hydrated (hydrated). Hydrated mosses lost little to no
detectable nitrogen; whereas most rehydrated mosses lost some nitrogen in
throughfall. Throughfall from both hydrated and rehydrated mosses
generated higher CO2 and N2O efflux than water treated soils, but
rehydrated moss throughfall promoted larger N2O efflux than hydrated moss
throughfall. Throughfall from hydrated mosses caused net negative changes
in soil carbon and had very little effect on soil nitrogen, whereas
throughfall from rehydrated mosses generated positive changes in soil
carbon and nitrogen. 4. Synthesis. Our results indicate that resources
lost from desiccated mosses during rehydration influence soil carbon and
nitrogen transformations and may be important drivers of carbon and
nitrogen cycling and storage in ecosystems.