NEECF-SMD: A soil microbiome dataset across boreal–tropical forests in China under nitrogen fertilization

Against the backdrop of increasing nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems, understanding the resulting changes in soil microbial communities and their functional responses remains a significant challenge in global change ecology. While numerous grassland nitrogen deposition simulation experiments have confirmed the negative impact of nitrogen-induced soil acidification on soil microbial diversity, the response characteristics and mechanisms of forest soil microbial community to nitrogen deposition remain unclear, which hinders accurate predictions of forest ecosystem structure and functional dynamics. Based on the Nitrogen Enrichment Experiments in Chinese Forests (NEECF) platform, this dataset compiles the responses of soil physicochemical properties, soil microbial communities, and ecosystem functions to seven years of nitrogen addition across four forest types in different climate zones. The core scientific value and key issues that this dataset can address include: revealing the response patterns of forest soil microbial community to nitrogen deposition; clarifying the common mechanisms of ecosystem functional responses to nitrogen deposition across climate zones; and supporting the formulation of differentiated forest management strategies.