Data on soil microbial carbon source utilization under different carbon input treatments in broadleaf and coniferous plantations

This article presents soil microbial carbon metabolism data under different detritus input and removal treatments (DIRT) in broadleaf and coniferous plantations in the Tashan Forests in Feixian County, Shandong Province, China (35°10′–36°00′N, 117°35′–118°20′E). The local annual air temperature is 13 °C, and the annual precipitation is 700 mm. The soil belongs to Phaeozems. The effects of DIRT on soil microbial carbon (C) metabolism in oak (Quercus variabilis Bl.) plantations and pine (Pinus thunbergii Parl.) plantations were assessed. There were five treatments for each plantation type, including: a control; doubling aboveground litter input; no aboveground litter input; no roots; and no detritus inputs. Soils were sampled after one year and nine months of DIRT. Soil microbial C metabolism was measured by EcoPlate™, which contained 31 different C substrates. The absorbance was measured with a micro-plate reader (Synergy H(1), Biotek, Vermont, USA) at 590 nm every 12 h for 240 h. The data are based on 50 samples (two forest types × five C input treatments × five replicates); three replicates of the samples were taken. Interpretation of the data can be found in “Carbon input manipulations affecting microbial carbon metabolism in temperate forest soils – a comparative study between broadleaf and coniferous plantations” (Wang et al., 2019). The data can be used for studying the roles of aboveground and belowground inputs to soil C stabilization.