Wildfire and extreme rainfall reduce soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a semiarid shrubland ecosystem

This study took advantage of a wildfire, natural variation in rainfall, and a controlled rain-shelter experiment to examine the interactions of fire and rain on soil structure and organic matter storage in a coastal sage scrub ecosystem in southern California. The study includes data from 2022-2024. Passive rain shelters were installed in the fall of 2022, and were paired with nearby control plots. The years preceding the study were drier than average, while 2023 was an exceptionally high rainfall year, and 2024 was close to the long-term average. The study includes two areas that burned in a January 2021 wildfire and an adjacent unburned area. For most variables, there are at total of 36 datapoints for each year (3 areas x 2 rainfall treatments x 6 replicates). The datasets include carbon and nitrogen associated with different soil physical fractions, including water stable aggregates, particulate organic matter, mineral associated organic matter, and soluble pools. Additionally, soil ..., , # Wildfire and extreme rainfall reduce soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a semiarid shrubland ecosystem

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.qrfj6q5tn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qrfj6q5tn)

## Description of the data and file structure

The study includes data from 2022-2024 from a coastal sage scrub ecosystem in southern California. Passive rain shelters (diverting 66% of rainfall) were installed in the fall of 2022, and were paired with nearby control plots. The years preceding the study were drier than average, while 2023 was an exceptionally high rainfall year, and 2024 was close to the long-term average. The study includes two areas that burned in a January 2021 wildfire (A and B) and an adjacent unburned area (C). Soil samples (25 cm deep) were collected in January 2022 and late spring of 2023 and 2024. For most variables, there are at total of 36 data points for each year (3 areas x 2 rainfall treatments x 6 replicates). The datasets include carbon and nitrogen associated with differ...,