Environmental data for: Brine-induced soil gradients drive microbial community assembly and ecological partitioning

This dataset supports an environmental study focusing on the effects of brine contamination on soil microbiota within a 25-hectare site impacted by brine in Northern Alberta, Canada. Soil samples were collected along four transects, each extending 300 meters, to cover a gradient from unaffected to severely affected by brine, incorporating analyses of both topsoil (A horizon) and subsoil (B horizon) layers. The investigation included microbiome analysis leveraging 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, enabling the examination of microbial community structure and diversity. Included within this dataset are alpha diversity indices (Faith's Phylogenetic Diversity and Shannon Entropy) and beta diversity assessments (Weighted UniFrac distance Principal Coordinates Analysis).