Data-Integrated microbial–enzymatic pathways driving carbon sequestration in plant litter crusts of semi-arid sandy soils
Description
Field sampling was conducted in July 2018 and 2019 in degraded sandy soils at litter crust monitoring sites, following the methodology of Cheng et al. (2025). Three representative sites, spaced more than 1000 m apart, were selected in vegetation-free areas (within a one-meter radius). At each site, four treatments were established: bare sandy soil (control), early-successional litter crust (1-3 years), mid-successional litter crust (3-5 years), and late-successional litter crust (5-8 years) (Fig. 1a). Naturally formed litter crusts, consisting mainly of Populus simonii Carr. and other plant litter, persist for several years and typically as discrete patches or belts in low-lying or flat sandy areas. The age of the litter crust was determined in the field based on established morphological characteristics, including litter color and the degree of adhesion between soil and litter (Jia et al. 2018). Sampling was conducted in two consecutive years, providing six replicates per treatment (3 sites × 2 years). For each treatment, three replicate plots (1 m × 1 m) were established at each site, spaced more than 10 m apart. Within each plot, composite soil samples were collected from the 0-10 cm depth using a 5-cm-diameter soil auger. Each composite sample consisted of five sub-samples obtained via the five-point sampling method. All samples were immediately placed in insulated coolers with ice packs and transported to the laboratory on the same day. One portion was stored at -80 ℃ for DNA extraction, another at 4 ℃ for enzyme activity assays, and the remainder was air-dried for physicochemical soil characterization. Prior to analysis, visible plant debris was removed by sieving through a 2-mm sieve.
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This research was funded by the Key Research and Development Plan of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (2022BEG02002), ROH acknowledges funding from the R&D Project of the “Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities” PID2023-150371OB-I00, and the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 101000224 (TUdi project).