Root functional trait and soil microbial coordination: implications for soil respiration in riparian agroecosystems

Field-based, root exclusion experiment to measure heterotrophic and autotrophic-rhizospheric respiration across riparian buffer types in an agricultural landscape in southern Ontario, Canada. We paired bi-weekly measurements of in-field CO2 flux with analysis of soil properties and fine root functional traits. We quantified soil microbial community structure using qPCR to estimate bacterial and fungal abundance and characterized microbial diversity using high-throughput sequencing. Data are from four riparian buffer types with four sampling plots each over eight sampling times: n = 120 soil, root data and respiration measurements, n = 38 bulk soil microbial data, as well as an initial collection of n = 14 paired microbial rhizosphere soil and root trait data. One plot in the rehabilitated forest was omitted due to concern of effects from streambank erosion.