Warming reduces priming effect of soil organic carbon decomposition along a subtropical elevation gradient

The priming effects (PEs) of soil organic carbon (SOC) is a crucial process affecting the C balance of terrestrial ecosystems. However, there is uncertainty about how PEs will respond to climate warming. Here, we sampled soils along a subtropical elevation gradient in China and conducted a 126-day lab-incubation experiment with and without additions of 13C-labeled high-bioavailability glucose or low-bioavailability lignin. Based on the mean annual temperature (MAT) of each elevation (9.3–16.4°C), a temperature increase of 4°C was used to explore how PEs mediate the decomposition of SOC in response to warming. Our results showed that the magnitude of glucose-induced PEs (PEglu) was higher than lignin-induced PEs (PElig), with both PEs linearly increasing with MAT. Across the MAT (i.e., elevation) gradient, warming had consistent negative effects on PEglu, whereas rising MAT exacerbated the negative effects of warming on PElig. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity of SOC decomposition de..., , , # Data from: Warming reduces priming effect of soil organic carbon decomposition along a subtropical elevation gradient

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5x69p8dbf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5x69p8dbf)

The dataset includes glucose-, lignin- and SOC-derived CO2-C production, priming effects, soil properties, and microbial communities measured across all treatments.

## Description of the data and file structure

Methodological Information

\* Methods of data collection/generation: see article for details

\* Geographic locations of data collection: Wuyishan Mountain, Fujian, China

Description of the data and file structure

\* This dataset has one EXCEL. xlsx file with 22 sheets supporting the figures in the article.

\* Description of the treatment

There are six treatments in this dataset: Control, glucose addition, lignin addition, warming, glucose addition + warming, and lignin addition + warming treatment

*For abbreviations of variables in the sheet named Figure 1a

| Abbrevi...