Data from: Eco–enzymatic stoichiometry unveils resource limitations in soil microorganisms during subtropical vegetation restoration

Eco–enzymatic stoichiometry provides insights into how soil microorganisms
allocate resources to meet their energy and nutrient needs. Subtropical
ecosystems are known to be strongly resource-limited, particularly for
phosphorus (P) limitation. Vegetation restoration usually sustainably
further alters the relative availability of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N),
and P. However, the patterns of microbial nutrient limitation and their
drivers along vegetation restoration remain largely unclear. Here, using
eco–enzymatic stoichiometry modeling, we investigated soil microbial
resource limitations and identified primary factors driving them across
five stages of vegetation restoration [grassland (GL), shrubland (SL),
early–, mid–, and late–forest (EF, MF, and LF)] in subtropical China.
β–1,4–glucosidase (BG), β–N–acetyl glucosaminidase (NAG), and acid
phosphatase (ACP) activities in forest stages (EF, MF, and LF) were
significantly higher than the GL and SL stages. Cellobiohydrolase (CBH)
and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activities exhibited a consistent
increase solely within the forest stages (EF, MF, and LF). Soil microbial
resources are co–limited by C and P. Soil nutrients had the strongest
overall impact, positively affecting microbial C limitation and negatively
affecting P limitation, while litter biomass positively regulated P
limitation. Synthesis and applications: This research provides key
insights into the limitations of microbial resources following vegetation
restoration and would contribute to designing more effective forest
restoration strategies to promote the recovery and stability of
subtropical ecosystems.