Global river cellulose decomposition assay data 2016-17

In the field, physicochemical parameters were obtained using a combination of in-situ probe measurements and geomorphological assessment, alongside collection of river water for ex-situ determination of some variables. A standardised cellulose (cotton strip) decomposition assay was deployed at each river site. In the laboratory, a tensiometer (University of Leeds) was used to determine the tensile-strength loss for incubated and control cotton strips, as a proxy for the decomposition of cellulose. Tensile-strength loss values were standardised by days of incubation and water temperature. DNA was extracted from subsamples of the cotton strips and next generation sequencing (qPCR, PCR) (University of Essex) performed to estimate the abundance of fungi (ITS), subgroups of fungi (saprotrophs, Ascomycota, Tetracladium) and a fungal gene (cbhI). Molecular data was subjected to quality control prior to taxonomic classification and assignment of trophic mode.