DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rf9
title: Fungal necromass is reduced by intensive drought in subsoil but not in topsoil

description: The frequency and intensity of droughts worldwide are challenging the
 conservation of soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. Microbial necromass is a
 key component of SOC, but how it responds to drought at specific soil
 depths remains largely unknown. Here, we conducted a three-year field
 experiment in a forest plantation to investigate the impacts of drought
 intensities under three treatments (ambient control (CK), moderate drought
 (30% throughfall removal), and intensive drought (50% throughfall
 removal)) on soil microbial necromass pools (i.e., bacterial necromass
 carbon (BNC), fungal necromass carbon (FNC), and total microbial necromass
 carbon (TNC)). We showed that the effects of drought on microbial
 necromass depended on microbial groups, soil depth, and drought intensity.
 While moderate drought increased total (+9.1±3.3%) and fungal (+13.5±4.9%)
 necromass carbon in the topsoil layer (0–15 cm), intensive drought reduced
 total (-31.6±3.7%) and fungal (-43.6±4.0%) necromass in the subsoil layer
 (15–30 cm). In contrast, both drought treatments significantly increased
 the bacterial necromass carbon in the topsoil and subsoil. Our results
 suggested that the effects of drought on the microbial necromass of the
 subsoil were more pronounced than those of the topsoil. This study
 highlights the complex responses of microbial necromass to drought events
 depending on microbial community structure, drought intensity and soil
 depth with global implications when forecasting carbon cycling under
 climate change.
description: Fungal necromass is reduced by intensive drought in subsoil but not in
 topsoil [Access this dataset on Dryad] (DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rf9) A
 drought simulation experiment was conducted on a poplar plantations in
 Jiangsu, China. In this study, the precipitation input was controlled by
 the rain canopy to simulate different drought conditions. We established
 three treatments, including a control without throughfall reduction (CK);
 moderate treatment with a 30% throughfall reduction (D30%); and intensive
 treatment with a 50% throughfall reduction (D50%). Each treatment was set
 up with three replicates for a total of nine plots. Soil samples were
 extracted from all nine plots in 2021 (January in Winter, April in Spring,
 July in Summer, and October in Autumn). The soil samples collected for
 each plot are divided into 0-15cm topsoil and 15-30cm subsoil. We measured
 the content of microbial necromass in these soil samples as well as soil
 properties. Based on these data, we analyzed the ecological correlations
 between soil depth, drought intensity, soil properties and microbial
 necromass. ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset
 showed the raw data we used in the manuscript. [Treatments] CK means soil
 samples without throughfall removal, D30% means soil samples with 30%
 throughfall removal, and D50% implies soil samples with 50% throughfall
 removal. [Variables] Temp means soil temperature, Mois means soil
 moisture, FNC means fungal necromass carbon , BNC means beterial necromass
 carbon and TNC means total necromass carbon. The TNC=FNC+BNC. [Seasons]
 Win: Winter (January, 2021); Spr: Spring (April, 2021); Sum: Summer (July,
 2021); Aut: Auntumn (October, 2021). \*These data is aggregated in an
 Excel file that can be accessed and observed in the corresponding tabs. ##
 Code/Software This data file can be opened and accessed using Microsoft
 Excel.