SPRUCE Fungal Necromass Litter Bag Decomposition Study in SPRUCE Experimental Plots, 2016-2018

This data set provided the results of a 2-year fungal necromass litter bag decomposition study at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment in the Marcell Experimental Forest in northern Minnesota, USA. Necromass from four mycorrhizal fungal species that naturally occur and associate with either the ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree hosts or ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) shrubs in the S1 Bog site and vary in melanin content (Cenococcum geophilum Fr., Suillus grisellus, Meliniomyces bicolor, and Oideodendron griseum) were incubated in situ in SPRUCE experimental treatment chambers for 3, 12, and 24 months duration beginning in June of 2016 and ending in June of 2018. Analyses of the necromass included pre-incubation chemistry and post-incubation mass loss and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of remaining fungal necromass.