Data for: The dissolved carbon fluxes in an erosion landscape vegetation restoration area
Description
The data were got by the field observation in 2016 and 2017. The observation time was the growing season in this region.Four runoff plots were set up on the hill-slopes with vegetation cover of Robinia pseudoacacia (A, 2×10 m), Spiraea salicifolia (S, 2×10 m), Stipa bungeana community (H, 3×10 m), and a bare soil (CK, 3×10 m). The vegetation community characteristics in each plot are listed in Table 1. All the plots had similar slope gradients of about 20°. Each runoff plot was surrounded by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) boards. The boards embedded into the soil (500 mm deep) were used to separate the sediment yield and surface runoff in and out of the plots. At the bottom edge of each runoff plot, a U shape PVC runoff gathering pit was installed to transfer the surface runoff to a collecting bucket. In total, 19 rainfall events were recorded between June and October in 2016 (nine rainfall events) and 2017 (ten rainfall events). The rainfall events were numbered from number 1 to number 19 on the basis of the sampling dates. After each rainfall event, the surface runoff volume (R) from each plot was measured and the runoff accumulated in buckets was collected in 250 mL plastic bottles (then chilled at 4 °C in a refrigerator) for monitoring the dissolved carbon concentration in runoff. This dissolved carbon concentration in runoff includes the dissolved organic carbon concentration and the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration. One set of simple rain gauges was installed in each of the plots that had no rainfall interception (H and CK). For the plots under the woody vegetation cover (A and S), six sets of simple rain gauges were installed for collecting throughfall. After each rainfall event, the rainfall or throughfall volume (P) was measured and collected in a plastic bottle (250 mL) and kept in refrigerator (4 °C) for later measurement of the carbon concentration in rainfall, including the dissolved organic carbon concentration and the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration, in the laboratory. After each rainfall event, the soil water sampler installed was used for collecting soil infiltration water. The Model 1900 Soil Water Sampler used in the experiment came fully assembled. This instrument is a large-volume sampler designed for near-surface installation at 50 mm depth in a study. Two sets of soil water samplers were installed in each plot, one was 2.5 meters from the top edge of the plot and one was 7.5 meters from the top edge. The infiltration water samples collected were put in plastic bottles (250 mL) and kept in a refrigerator (4 °C) for later measurement of the carbon concentration of the infiltration water, including the dissolved organic carbon concentration and the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration. The infiltration volume (I) in each plot was calculated through the water balance equation for each rainfall event (P=R+I).