DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16573346.v1
title: Diversity, productivity and biomass of natural soil microbe communities (testate amoebae) under spatially and temporally variable salinization levels.

description: <b>Overview:</b>Diversity, productivity and biomass of natural soil microbe communities (testate amoebae) under spatially and temporally variable salinization levels, within coastal environments in the Magdalen Islands (Canada) and Marion Island (sub-Antarctica).<br><b>See original article and 'Metadata' tab in the data-file for full description and methodology.</b><br>Data compiled from published records of natural soil-dwelling testate amoeba (TA) communities, and includes 85 samples from four distinct transects of variable coastal salt-enrichment, at three independent coastal environment sites:<br>* 31 samples from two transects across a <b>salt-marsh</b> in the Magdalen Islands, Canada (47.4<sup>o</sup>N, 61.9<sup>o</sup>W).* 26 samples from one transect across a <b>brackish, tidal marsh</b> (also in the Magdalen Islands, Canada).* 28 samples from one transect across a sub-Antarctic <b>coastal peatland</b> on Marion Island (46.9<sup>o</sup>S, 37.6<sup>o</sup>E).<br><br><b>This dataset relates to the article:</b><br><b>Whittle, A., Barnett, R. L., Charman, D., Gallego-Sala, A. V. (2021) Low-salinity transitions drive abrupt microbial response to sea-level change. <i>Ecology Letters.</i></b><br><br><b>List of data included (numbers relate to tabs in data-file):</b><br><b>1. Testate amoeba species relative abundance. </b>Record for each individual testate amoeba taxon encountered within each sample. Expressed as a percentage (%) of the total community within each sample. See full article for details on actions taken for taxonomic standardisation.<br><b>2.1. Concentration (productivity) of individual testate amoeba taxa.</b> Expressed as the number of shells per unit of sediment volume (i.e., tests cm-3). Concentration data includes shells of all living and dead (preserved) individuals encountered.<b>2.2. Total concentration (productivity) of testate amoebae per site/sample. </b>Expressed as the number of shells per unit of sediment volume (i.e., tests cm-3). Concentration data includes shells of all living and dead (preserved) individuals encountered.<br><b>3. Total biomass of testate amoebae per site/sample. </b>Total biomass of live plus dead (preserved) testate amoebae within each surface sample. Expressed as μg Carbon cm-3 of sample. Biomass calculated from census counts of communities inhabiting surface soil samples (defined as the top-most 1 cm layer).<br><b>4. Environmental conditions at each site/sample-location. </b>Measurements of pH and conductivity (salinity) - measured in μS. See article for full details on measurement methods.<br><b>5.1. Palaeo-record of changes in testate amoeba productivity in the brackish marsh at Bassin (Canada) since ~1700 CE. </b>Expressed as the concentration of tests cm-3.<b>5.2. Independent sea-level reconstruction from the brackish marsh at Bassin derived using Foraminifera.</b> Independent sea-level reconstruction derived from the same core sequence at Bassin using Foraminifera. See original source: Barnett et al. (2017) Reconstructing late Holocene relative sea-level changes at the Magdalen Islands (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada) using multi-proxy analyses. J. Quat. Sci, 32(3): 380-395.<br><b>6.1. Palaeo-record of testate amoeba productivity in a salt-marsh at Les Sillons (Canada) since ~1700 CE.</b> Expressed as the concentration of tests cm-3. <b>6.2. Independent sea-level reconstruction from the salt-marsh at Les Sillons derived using Foraminifera.</b> Independent sea-level reconstruction derived from the same core sequence at Les Sillons using Foraminifera. See original source: Barnett et al. (2017) Reconstructing late Holocene relative sea-level changes at the Magdalen Islands (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada) using multi-proxy analyses. J. Quat. Sci, 32(3): 380-395.<br><br><br>