Microbiology and soil characteristics in different situations, below different types of plants in Lamto savanna, Côte d’Ivoire, 2014

The goal of the sampling was to describe the impact of the vegetation and different plant species on soil microbiology with a focus on nitrogen cycling. This sampling was achieved in Lamto savanna, Côte d’Ivoire, in April 2014 during the long rainy season. Samples were collected from the top soil layer (0-15 cm). We sampled four types of situations: below the canopy of tree clumps, next to the trunks of isolated trees (four species, Bridelia ferruginea, Cussonia barteri, Crossopteryx febrifuga and Terminalia glaucescens), away from any tree or tree clumps, on termite mounds. In some of these situations (away from trees and tree clumps or below the canopy of tree clumps) samples were collected both under the grass tussocks and outside grass tussocks (i.e. in the bear soil area between tussocks). In the other situations they were only collected between grass tussocks. Away from trees and tree clumps, four grass species were sampled (Andropogon canaliculatus, Andropogon schirensis, Hyparrhenia diplandra and Loudetia simplex). Together with root density and some physicochemical characteristics (pH, carbon and nitrogen concentration, 13C and 15N signatures), the dataset gives the abundances of bacteria (16S rRNA), archaea (16S rRNA), fungi, amoA-AOA, amoA-AOB, nirK, nirS genes after DNA extraction from the soil. Finally, the dataset also contains the potential nitrification and denitrification fluxes. There are in most cases 5 replicates by combination of treatments. Detailed methods for measurements are given in the published article. There are two files. One for the soil microbiology data. The other for soil chemical properties. Each file contains a dictionnary of the variables together with their units. The sampling was achieved in 2014 by J.-C. Lata, S. Barot, M. Konan, and the data was used during Tharaniya Srikanthasamy's PhD. The soil and microbiological analyses have been achieved by the authors of Srikanthasamy, T., J. Leloup, A. B. N’Dri, S. Barot, J. Gervaix, A. W. Koné, K. F. Koffi, X. Le Roux, X. Raynaud, and J.-C. Lata. 2018. Contrasting effects of grasses and trees on microbial N-cycling in an African humid savanna. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 117:153-163. (2022-08-19)