DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jxcv
title: Data from: Hidden role of trophic cascade effects for soil carbon sequestration in alpine tundra

description: Large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in alpine tundra play a critical
 role in the global carbon budget but are increasingly vulnerable to loss
 under climate warming. These losses are partly driven by vegetation
 shifts, such as the upward migration of herbaceous plants, which alter
 soil food web structure and its influence on SOC sequestration. However,
 although interactive effects between these processes are expected, they
 remain largely unclear or effectively hidden. Here, we conducted a
 13C-labeled glucose tracing experiment in the alpine tundra of Changbai
 Mountain to investigate how upward migration of Deyeuxia angustifolia
 affects soil food web structure, energy flows, and ultimately SOC
 sequestration. Compared with soils without migration (NM), heavily
 herb-migrated (HM) soils showed intensified carbon fluxes within trophic
 cascade effects, increasing carbon transfer to higher trophic levels,
 including fungivores, omnivores-predators, plant-parasites, meso- and
 macrofauna. Predators in HM soils exhibited progressively increasing ¹³C
 assimilation over the 30-day period, while microbivores showed a 5-day lag
 behind microbial ¹³C uptake. This predator-driven energy dissipation was
 2-14 times greater in HM than in NM soils and constituted an inefficient
 carbon sequestration pathway, that limited the formation of stable carbon
 pools. As a result, SOC turnover in HM soils was more than 50 % lower than
 in NM soils, indicating a shift toward less stable carbon forms and
 reduced net accumulation. Overall, our findings demonstrate that soil food
 webs play a pivotal role in both “belowground shaping” and “aboveground
 feedback” processes during herbaceous plant migration, and that
 strengthened trophic cascade effects redirect carbon flow toward
 inefficient pathways, thereby constraining SOC sequestration in alpine
 tundra ecosystems.
description: # Data from: Hidden role of trophic cascade effects for soil carbon
 sequestration in alpine tundra Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jxcv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jxcv) ##
 Description of the data and file structure File name: README_Dataset \*
 Title of Dataset: Data from: Hidden role of trophic cascade effects for
 soil carbon sequestration in alpine tundra \* Dataset DOI:
 10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jxcv \* Authors: Xinchang Kou \* Email:
 [kouxc761@nenu.edu.cn](mailto:kouxc761@nenu.edu.cn) \* Address: Renmin
 road 5268, Northeast Normal University \* Other contributors: Ziwei Wang,
 Yan Tao, Yakov Kuzyakov, Shengzhong Wang, Ziping Liu, Haitao Wu, Hong S
 He, Haibo Du, Mai-He, Li \* Organization: Northeast Normal University \*
 Date created: 2025-12-12 *Contributor ORCID IDs: \* Xinchang Kou:
 [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6434-6161](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6434-6161) \* Yakov Kuzyakov: [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9863-8461](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9863-8461) \* Shengzhong Wang: [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0933-7104](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0933-7104) \* Hong S He: [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3983-2512](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3983-2512) \* Haibo Du: [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6195-085X](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6195-085X) \* Mai-He, Li: [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7029-2841](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7029-2841) \* Acknowledgements \* Funding sources: National Natural Science Foundation of China (42201060, 42271049), the National Key Joint Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China (U20A2083, U23A2003), the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Provincial Department of Science and Technology (20230101087JC) and the RUDN University Strategic Academic Leadership Program. ### Files and variables #### File: Dataset_for_GCB.xlsx **Methodological Information** \* Methods of data collection/generation: see article for details \* Geographic locations of data collection: the alpine tundra of Changbai Mountain 
 
 **Description of the data and file structure** \* This dataset has one
 EXCEL. xlsx file with 3 sheet supporting the table, figures and original
 soil fauna data in the article. The first table represents the data for
 all the graphs and tables. The second table contains raw data for all
 microbial PLFAs. The third table contains the raw data for the
 identification of all nematode communities. *For abbreviations of
 herbaceous migration: No Migration (NM) (herbaceous plant coverage = 0%),
 Light Migration (LM) (1% &lt; herbaceous plant coverage &lt; 30%),
 Moderate Migration (MM) (30% &lt; herbaceous plant coverage &lt; 70%), and
 Heavy Migration (HM) (70% &lt; herbaceous plant coverage &lt; 100%) *For
 abbreviations of variables in the sheet of table and figure sheet:
 **Abbreviation                         Description Units** Sampling       
                          Time The point sampled during experiment time
 days Soil 13C                                    Soil organic carbon
 derived from the glucose g/kg Rhizosphere Soil 13C           
  Rhiszousphere soil organic carbon derived from the glucose g/kg Roots
 13C                                Roots carbon derived from the glucose
 g/kg Plants 13C                                Plants carbon derived from
 the glucose g/kg Bacteria 13C                            Bacterial carbon
 derived from the glucose ng/g Fungi 13C                               
  Fungal carbon derived from the glucose ng/g Bacterivores 13C             
       Bacterivores carbon derived from the glucose ng/g Fungivores 13C   
                   Fungivores carbon derived from the glucose ng/g
 Plant-parasites 13C               Plant-parasites carbon derived from the
 glucose ng/g Ominvores-predator 13C     Ominvores-predator carbon derived
 from the glucose ng/g Acarina 13C                            Acarina
 carbon derived from the glucose ng/g Collembola 13C                   
  Collembola carbon derived from the glucose ng/g 
 
 *For abbreviations of variables in the sheet of organial microbial data
 sheet: No abbreviations, all column headers are fatty acids. 
 
 *For abbreviations of variables in the sheet of organial nematode data
 sheet: No abbreviations, all column headers are genuses of nematodes. ##
 Access information There were no data was derived from other public
 research