Fine roots and soil

This dataset contains fine-root traits and associated soil properties collected from pure and mixed plantations on the Loess Plateau, China. The study includes monocultures of Robinia pseudoacacia, Populus simonii, and Hippophae rhamnoides, as well as mixed plantations of R. pseudoacacia with P. simonii or H. rhamnoides under different mixing ratios. Fine-root biomass and morphological traits were measured across multiple soil depth intervals to capture spatial variation in belowground structure. Corresponding soil variables, including soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, soil water content, and soil bulk density, were measured at the same sampling locations. The dataset supports analyses of species-specific root strategies, root–soil interactions, and scale-dependent patterns of belowground complementarity in arid and semi-arid plantation ecosystems.