A multi-factor observational dataset of plant community, soil nutrients, soil respiration and microbial diversity in an alpine meadow under a simulated warming gradient and winter clipping on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (2018)

This dataset is accompanied by the paper "Response of winter mowing regulation of multifunctionality of alpine grassland ecosystem to measured soil warming", collected on the long-term control experimental platform of the National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Haibei Alpine Grassland Ecosystem in Qinghai Province (37 ° 36'N, 101 ° 19'E, altitude 3220 m). The experiment began in July 2011, with 50 observation plots of 0.5 m × 0.5 m set up, using a randomized block design: four types of open top boxes (OTC) were used to form a passive warming gradient (control CK and W1-W4, above ground warming+0.08~+1.37 ℃), and winter cutting treatments were crossed (2-3 cm of above ground vegetation was left to cover the ground before returning to green in February March each year).

Each treatment combination was repeated five times; Among them, 20 residential areas have installed automatic recorders for near ground temperature and 5 cm soil temperature. The data was collected in 2018 (with a total of 8 observation days from May to August 2018 for soil respiration), including 6 data tables: ① Vegetation survey of sample plots (species composition, number of plants, coverage, plant height, aboveground/underground biomass); ② Seven advantageous leaf functional traits (specific leaf area SLA, dry matter content LDMC, leaf moisture content, leaf thickness, etc.) SPAD、 Single leaf dry weight); ③ Soil nutrients (organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, alkali hydrolyzed nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and bulk density in three layers of 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm); ④ Soil respiration flux (portable gas analyzer, 20 instrument communities); ⑤ Microbial community and biomass (diversity indicators and microbial biomass obtained from bacterial 16S and fungal ITS1 amplicon sequencing); ⑥ Continuous recording of OTC near ground temperature and 5 cm soil temperature.