DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4mw6m90qg
title: Soil physical, biological, chemical, and carbon data and cover crop biomass data from Sac Valley almond orchard comparing multiple cover crop compositions with resident vegetation for effects on soil health and nematodes

description: Planted cover crops and naturally occurring resident vegetation in
 orchards and agricultural fields belong to multiple functional groups
 which differ in traits, growth dynamics, and ability to influence soil
 health and biology. These different vegetation mixes may influence soil
 food webs and ecosystems over a growing season as well as regulating
 nutrient cycling outcomes. This study characterized soil organisms and
 nutrients as well as physical and chemical indicators of soil health in an
 almond orchard with three vegetation mixes: winter resident vegetation
 (dominated by Vicia, Malva, and Hordeum weedy species), and two cover
 crops mixes, one functionally diverse (brassica, legume, cereals) and one
 functionally uniform (brassicas), all of which had been implemented for
 four years. While physical soil health indicators differed seasonally,
 only biological indicators differed among the vegetation. During the
 winter and early spring growth period, both cover crop mixes increased
 microbial biomass nitrogen compared to resident vegetation, while the
 uniform mix supported greater numbers of nematodes overall, regardless of
 trophic group. The diverse cover crop mix supported more complex nematode
 food webs, as measured by the Structure Footprint, while nematode
 communities overall were primarily influenced by cover crop biomass and
 microbial biomass nitrogen. Soil nutrients increased after vegetation
 termination by flail mowing in all treatments, and the resident vegetation
 had the largest increase in dissolved organic carbon between the Cover and
 Post-Cover time points. Nematode indicators of food web composition and
 function decreased after termination, including the Structure Index,
 Fungal Footprint and Bacterivore Footprint. In contrast, the relative
 abundance of herbivores increased over time and, at the Post- Cover time
 point, both the diverse mix and the uniform mix had a higher proportion of
 root herbivores than resident vegetation, although these were primarily in
 the genus Tylenchorhynchus and not considered economically damaging.
 Increased processing of resources through generalist root herbivore
 nematodes may have been due to nematodes feeding on the cover crops
 themselves or on almond roots that foraged into soils with more nutrients.
 These results suggest that cover cropping can influence soil food webs on
 multiple fronts including root herbivores and predators. Greater knowledge
 of how cover crops influence soil health and for how long, during a
 season, will allow for the more efficient use of cover crops in
 Mediterranean systems.
description: # Soil physical, biological, chemical, and carbon data and cover crop
 biomass data from Sac Valley almond orchard comparing multiple cover crop
 compositions with resident vegetation for effects on soil health and
 nematodes Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.4mw6m90qg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4mw6m90qg) ##
 Description of the data and file structure Biomass, soils, and nematode
 data were collected from 3 treatments (diverse cover crop mix, uniform
 cover crops mix, and resident vegetation groundcover) in the alleys of an
 almond orchard to assess the  impacts of the cover crop at 2 time points:
 spring (immediately before cover crop termination) and summer (~3 months
 after cover crop termination). More details are provided, including
 management specifics, in the published manuscript. ### Files and variables
 #### File: WEO_archival_12Nov2025.xlsx **Description:** 5 tabs; 3 data
 tabs and 2 metadata tabs. Metadata tabs include a list of column names for
 the associated data tabs with units of each column and definitions of all
 abbreviations.  NA in all data columns indicated that data are not
 available for that sample. Empty cells (in the "subtrt" column)
 indicates that there was no subtreatment for that trt (because resident
 vegetation was no planted, there was no early vs late treatment) #####
 Variables | variable | units | | :---------- | :----------------------- |
 | biomass | kg ha-1 | | weeds | kg ha-1 | | pH | 
 
 | | salts | 1:1 S Salts mmho/cm | | SOM | LOI % | | P | ppm | | K | ppm |
 | S | ppm | | Zn | ppm | | Fe | ppm | | Mn | ppm | | Cu | ppm | | Ca | ppm
 | | Mg | ppm | | Na | ppm | | CEC | Sum of Cations me 100g-1 | | H\_sat |
 % Saturation | | K\_sat | % Saturation | | Ca\_sat | % Saturation | |
 Mg\_sat | % Saturation | | Na\_sat | % Saturation | | WENO3 | ppm | | WEOC
 | ppm | | WEON | ppm | | WEOCN | ppm | | WENH4 | ppm | | resp | ppm 24
 hrs-1 | | agg\_stab | % | | WETN | ppm | | SHI | 
 
 | | MAC | % | | N\_credit | ppm | | N\_res | ppm | | BD | g cm3- | | DOC
 | mg kg-1 dry soil | | DON | mg kg-1 dry soil | | MBC | mg kg-1 dry soil |
 | MBN | mg kg-1 dry soil | | moist\_perc | % | | infil | cm hr-1 | |
 Nematode indicates or taxa name | units (if applicable) | |
 :------------------------------------------- | :-------------------- | |
 Maturity Index \[MEAN] | | | Maturity Index 2-5 \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Sigma Maturity Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Plant Parasitic Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Channel Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Basal Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Enrichment Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Structure Index \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Total biomass, mg \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Composite footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Enrichment footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Structure footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Herbivore footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Fungivore footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Bacterivore footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Predator footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Omnivore footprint \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Total number, ind \[MEAN] | 
 
 | | Herbivores, % of total | 
 
 | | Fungivores, % of total | 
 
 | | Fungivores, % of free-living | 
 
 | | Bacterivores, % of total | 
 
 | | Bacterivores, % of free-living | 
 
 | | Predators, % of total | 
 
 | | Predators, % of free-living | 
 
 | | Omnivores, % of total | 
 
 | | Omnivores, % of free-living | 
 
 | | Sedentary parasites, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Migratory endoparasites, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Semi-endoparasites, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Ectoparasites, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Epidermal/root hair feeders, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Algal/lichen/moss feeders, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | CP 1, % of free-living | 
 
 | | CP 2, % of free-living | 
 
 | | CP 3, % of free-living | 
 
 | | CP 4, % of free-living | 
 
 | | CP 5, % of free-living | 
 
 | | PP 2, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | PP 3, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | PP 4, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | PP 5, % of herbivores | 
 
 | | Panagrolaimus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Rhabditis | per 200 mL
 fresh soil | | Cephalobus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Eucephalobus | per
 200 mL fresh soil | | Acrobeles | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Acrobeloides |
 per 200 mL fresh soil | | Plectus | per 200 mL fresh soil | |
 Prismatolaimus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Xiphinema americanum | per 200
 mL fresh soil | | Heterodera | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Diphtherophora |
 per 200 mL fresh soil | | Discolaimus | per 200 mL fresh soil | |
 Hemicycliophora | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Trichodorus | per 200 mL fresh
 soil | | Aphelenchoides | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Aphelenchus | per 200
 mL fresh soil | | Dorylaimus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Qudsianematidae |
 per 200 mL fresh soil | | Mononchidae | per 200 mL fresh soil | |
 Microdorylaimus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Tylenchidae | per 200 mL fresh
 soil | | Paratylenchus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Tylenchorhynchus | per
 200 mL fresh soil | | Pratylenchus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Meloidogyne
 | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Tylenchulus | per 200 mL fresh soil | | Total
 | per 200 mL fresh soil | ## Code/software Excel file, can open in various
 software ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the
 data: * None Data was derived from the following sources: * None