Enhanced soil C losses in degrading Tibetan pasture soils by alteration of microbial functions

Representative soil samples were taken from soils of six successional degradation stages (S0 – S5) at Nagqu close to the KEMA research station on the Tibetan Plateau at 4,484 m a.s.l. in late summer 2013 and 2015. SOC stocks decrease from intact pastures (S0) to severely degraded stages (S5) by 70%.

The dataset indicates SOC and nitrogen (N) losses but also includes changes in their isotopic composition. Furthermore, pH, CEC, element contents and the lignin monomers (vannillyl, syringyl, and cinnamyl (VSC) were quantified and point towards a change of soil properties. These changes affect the microbial community structure of bacteria and fungi analyzed via terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (t-RFLP).