Effect of Planting Density on Root Biomass and Distribution, and Soil Organic Carbon Stock of Acacia decurrens stands in Northwestern Ethiopia

This dataset was created to evaluate the effect of planting density on the root biomass, soil organic carbon stock, and vertical distributions of Acacia decurrens stands in Northwestern Ethiopia using five planting densities (0.5m x 0.5m, 0.75m x 0.75m, 1m x 1, 1.25m x 1.25m, and 1.5m x 1.5m), which were replicated 4 times in randomized complete block design. This dataset includes experimental stand characteristics, coarse root biomass, fine root biomass, tree fine root biomass, herbaceous root biomass, live fine root biomass, dead fine root biomass (necrosis), soil organic carbon content and stock, and accordingly its vertical proportional distribution. It was created by taking about 100 soil cores (6.67 cm diameter) for fine root biomass (<2 mm in diameter) and 100 pit (900 cm2 area) for coarse root (diameter > 2 mm) within 0-50 cm soil depth (having five soil layers in 10 cm interval) during December 2019. All fine roots were separated as live and dead and further grouped as tree or herbaceous roots. The soil organic carbon content and stock were also determined using standard procedures of IPCC (2003). The root biomass data were standardized into gram per meter square (g m-2) for root biomass comparisons for each planting density and soil depth, then summed up for 0-50 cm depth as a total root biomass. The vertical distributions of fine and coarse root biomass at each depth were expressed as a percentage (in decimal) of the total root biomass (0-50 cm). Therefore, this dataset has created using standard scientific protocols to contribute for the scientific community on the effect of stand density on root biomass, soil organic carbon, and its vertical distribution in short rotation stands.