DOI: 10.5285/391c0294-07f1-4856-b592-428bd44055ca
title: Soil biological properties from a digestate experiment on winter wheat at North Wyke and Henfaes Farm, UK (2017)

description: The data consist of nitrogen gene data, soil biodiversity indices and microbial community composition for three soil depths (0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm) from a winter wheat field experiment located in the United Kingdom and collected between April 2017 and August 2017. The sites were Rothamsted Research at North Wyke in Devon  and Bangor University at Henfaes Research Station in North Wales.

At each site measurements were taken from 15 plots, organised within a randomised complete block design where 5 plots did not receive fertilizers (controls), 5 plots received food-based digestate, and 5 plots received acidified food based digestate a nitrification inhibitor. Soil samples were taken within two weeks of digestate application and shortly before winter wheat harvest.

Soil chemical parameters were: soil nitrate, ammonium, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, amino acids and peptides, soil organic matter content as loss-on-ignition, pH, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, permanganate oxdisable carbon citric acid extractable phosphorous, Olsen-P and total carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Soil biological measure were: microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. 

Soil samples were taken by members of staff from Centre of Ecology & Hydrology (Bangor), Bangor University, School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography Sustainable Agricultural Sciences, and Rothamsted Research North Wyke. Measurements were carried out Rothamsted Research Harpenden and the Centre of Ecology & Hydrology (Wallingford). Soil physico-chemical parameters were measured on the same soil samples and are presented in a related dataset. https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/90df9dfa-a0c8-4ead-a13d-0a0a13cda7ab

Data was collected for the Newton Fund project “UK-China Virtual Joint Centre for Improved Nitrogen Agronomy”. Funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and NERC -  Ref BB/N013468/1
description: Soil samples were taken by members of staff from the different sites. Samples were sent to Rothamsted Research Harpenden for DNA extractions and extracts were analysed for nitrogen genes (nifH, amoA, nirK, nirS, nosZ, ureC). Extracts were also sent to CEH Wallingford for analyses of operational taxonomic units (OTUs').

Soil community DNA was extracted from 0.25 grams soil using the MoBio DNA PowerSoil DNA isolation kit (Mo Bio Laboratories, Inc. Carlsbad, CA), following manufacturer’s protocol. Extracted DNA was quantified by fluorometer Qubit® 2.0 dsDNA BR Assay Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and quality checked by nanodrop (Thermo Fisher Scientific).

Quantitative-Polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) protocols were followed as detailed in De Sosa et al. 2018.

Extracted DNA was supplied from Rothamsted Research in Harpenden for amplicon sequencing at the facilities of the Molecular Ecology Group, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford. <50 μL volumes of DNA extract were supplied in 96-well plate format, these were subject to 16S Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) amplicon sequencing as described in Kozich 2013 and Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA amplicon sequencing employing the Kozich 2013 strategy and Ihrmark 2012.

All results were entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and converted to .csv files for ingestion into the Environmental Information Data Centre.