ARES soil variables

This dataset describes soil variables (0-10-cm depth) measured in subplots with daily applications of root exudate solution (RE) or a procedural control solution (CP), applied using the Automated Root Exudate System (ARES) within experimental litter removal (0L) and control plots (1L) in an old-growth deciduous woodland in Wytham, Oxfordshire, UK. Full descriptions of the study site and experimental design are given in the paper and appendices.

Data included in this file are: soil water content, soil pH and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen measured in the subplots at the end of the growing season in the first and second year of treatments (September 2015 and 2016) as well as fine root biomass in the second year of the study (July 2016).

Column headings and abbreviations are as follows:
block = replicate block A-E; Plot = unique experimental plot identifier P1-P15; treatm = litter manipulation treatment, where 0L is litter removal and 1L is control; ARES = subplot treatment, where RE is root exudate solution and CP is procedural control; year = year of study; swc = gravimetric soil water content in %; pH = soil pH; MBC and MBN = microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, respectively, in ug g-1; fine.roots = fine root biomass in g m-2.