Particulate and mineral associated organic matter from ¹³C and ¹⁵N residue labelling studies from 2002 to 2024

Stefano Manzoni, Jian Jin, Xinchang Kou, Joanna Ridgeway, Xiaoke Zhang, Francesca Cotrufo

The dataset is a collation of published data on residue, dissolved, particulate, and mineral associated organic matter (both carbon and nitrogen). Each data entry represents one sampling time for a given treatment and residue type; in most cases, there are multiple entries for each treatment and residue type (repeated sampling).

This data is important to understand the fate of plant and microbial residues in soils, as residues are decomposed and converted into dissolved, particulate and ultimately mineral associated organic matter. This stabilization process is mediated by environmental conditions during the incubation and by soil properties, which are both recorded in the meta-data.

Data was collated from 41 published original studies and/or published open access datasets; sites are distributed globally. Carbon and nitrogen were tracked in the four soil fractions mostly through ¹³C and ¹⁵N residue labeling.

Citation

Stefano Manzoni, Jian Jin, Xinchang Kou, Joanna Ridgeway, Xiaoke Zhang, Francesca Cotrufo (2024) Particulate and mineral associated organic matter from ¹³C and ¹⁵N residue labelling studies from 2002 to 2024. Dataset version 1. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/manzoni-2024-residue-stabilization-1

References

Manzoni S, Cotrufo MF (2024) Mechanisms of soil organic carbon and nitrogen stabilization in mineral-associated organic matter – insights from modeling in phase space. Biogeosciences 21:4077–4098. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4077-2024

Data description

Data is organized in two .csv files, Metadata, containing a description of the data and Data, containing the 41 collated datasets. In addition there is a .pdf, References, containing the full citations of the original studies.

The Metadata file is organized in columns as follows:

• source: citation of data source (Author year)
• treatment or site: denomination of treatment or site as in the original source
• source ID: categorical value indicating the data source, necessary to match metadata to data
• treatment or site ID: categorical value indicating treatments and/or sites within a data source, necessary to match metadata to data
• fractionation method: categorical value indicating the soil fractionation method (1: size, 2: density, 3: size and density)
• incubation: categorical value indicating the location of the incubation (1: lab, 2: field, 3: greenhouse)
• method: categorical value indicating the isotope tracing method (1: 13C isotope, 2: 13C and 15N isotopes, 3: C contents with/without residues, 4: 14C isotope)
• sand: percentage of sand (on a mass basis)
• silt: percentage of silt (on a mass basis)
• clay: percentage of clay (on a mass basis)
• silt and clay: percentage of silt and clay (on a mass basis)
• SOC: percentage of soil organic carbon (on a mass basis)
• temperature: laboratory or field temperature during incubation (degrees Celsius)
• LAT Nord: latitude Nord (decimal degrees)
• LONG East: longitude East (decimal degrees)

The Data file is organized in columns as follows:

• species or residue type: name of plant or microbial species from which residues are obtained
• source ID: categorical value indicating the data source, necessary to match metadata to data
• treatment or site ID: categorical value indicating the treatments and/or sites within a data source, necessary to match metadata to data
• fertilized: categorical value indicating if the soil received nitrogen fertilizer
• residue ID: categorical value indicating the residue type within a data source
• residue C to N ratio: carbon to nitrogen ratio of the added residues (on a mass basis)
• organ: categorical value indicating the organ of the plant from which residues were obtained, or the type of residue from other sources
• time: sampling time during the incubation (days)
• residue C: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as residue
• POC: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as particulate organic matter
• residue C and POC: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as combined residue and particulate organic matter
• MAOC: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as mineral associated organic matter
• POC and MAOC: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as combined particulate and mineral associated organic matter
• DOC: fraction of the added residue carbon remaining as dissolved organic matter
• residue N: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as residue
• PON: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as particulate organic matter
• residue N and PON: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as combined residue and particulate organic matter
• MAON: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as mineral associated organic matter
• PON and MAON: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as combined particulate and mineral associated organic matter
• DON: fraction of the added residue nitrogen remaining as dissolved organic matter

Comments

Stefano Manzoni collated and harmonized the data from the original sources; Jian Jin, Xinchang Kou, Joanna Ridgeway, Xiaoke Zhang, Francesca Cotrufo contributed unpublished data and provided clarifications on published data.

In case of errors or inconsistencies in the collated data, please notify the contact person Stefano Manzoni immediately.

Stefano Manzoni would welcome a notification when the data are used for any research project or publication.