Fine root biomass and nutrient concentrations from Alaskan borehole sites, 2015 (ViPER project)

Fine roots play an important role in belowground carbon dynamics and may influence our understanding of carbon feedbacks under a changing climate. The objective of this project is to quantify and characterize both live and dead fine root biomass across a large spatial area spanning both tundra and boreal forest ecosystems. These root data are associated with a larger project called Vegetation and Ecosystem Impacts on Permafrost Vulnerability (ViPER) examining the impacts of vegetation and ecosystem properties on active layer and permafrost thermal dynamics in order to better understand the vulnerability of permafrost to climate change. Datasets associated with the ViPER project include soil, vegetation, and ground temperature data from permafrost borehole sites in Alaska and Northeast Siberia. This specific dataset includes the biomasses, % carbon (C), % nitrogen (N), and % phosphorus (P) of both live and dead fine roots across 23 sites that were collected in July-August 2015.