Plant diversity data from modern sedimentary DNA of lakes in Siberia and China

Here we provide a large dataset on genetic plant diversity retrieved from surface sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) of lakes from Siberia and China spanning over a large environmental gradient. Our dataset encompasses sedDNA sequence data of 244 surface lake sediments and 3 soil samples originating from Siberia and Chinese lakes. We used a PCR-based metabarcoding approach combined with Next-Generation Sequencing to assess the modern and local plant diversity in and around the analysed lake localities. As a plant specific metabarcode we applied the established chloroplastidal P6 loop trnL marker for plant diversity assessment. PCR products were sequenced on four independent Illumina sequencing runs (ALRK-7, ALRK-3, AGAK-5 and HQD-2).