Data from: Low-cost CO₂ sensors reveal seasonal and management-driven soil carbon fluxes in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Monitoring soil gas emissions offers an effective way to track changes in soil carbon storage driven by climate and agricultural practices. This study assessed seasonal soil CO₂ efflux from 5 ha of agricultural land in Merced, California, a Hot-Summer Mediterranean climate region, as it transitioned from flood-irrigated pasture to sprinkler-irrigated cropland.

Five distinct land management events or practices were examined: flood irrigation, pasture grazing, soil disking, rainfed winter forage cultivation, and sprinkler-irrigated row cropping. We hypothesize that efflux regimes are primarily driven by seasonal changes in soil moisture, temperature, and vegetation and that land management activities will restructure these conditions to produce distinct efflux responses. Efflux rates were measured using low-cost portable CO₂ sensors during synoptic sampling campaigns from Summer/Fall 2022 through Fall 2024.