1. ABOUT THE DATASET Title: Raw data of a field experiment to assess the effect of plant residue quality, and diversity, applied as mulch, on nitrogen mineralization and on soil microbial biomass at later stages of decomposition, on crop plant quality, and on the quality of the crop residues at the end of the growing season. Creator: Dimitrios Gaitanis Organization: Department of Sustainable Land Management & Soil Research Centre, School of Agriculture Policy and Development, University of Reading Rights-holders: Dimitrios Gaitanis Publication year: 2022 Description: This dataset concerns a field experiment conducted at the Crop Research Unit of the University of Reading in UK in 2019. Wheat plants were grown in field plots of 1.6 m2, and mulch of diverse plant residues of whole plants were applied. The purpose of the experiment was to assess the effect of quality, and diversity of plant residue mulch on N mineralization and on soil microbial biomass at later stages of decomposition, on crop plant quality, and on the quality of the crop residues at the end of the growing season. There were five different types of plant residues: i) Perennial rye grass (P) (1 plant species), ii) Smart grass (S) (6 plant species), iii) Biomix (B) (12 plant species), iv) Herbal mix (H) (17 plant species), and Wood chips (W), and there was also a Control treatment with no residues. Therefore, there were 6 different treatments in total in 5 replicates. Soil samples were collected on days 25, 52, and 90 after mulch application. The dataset consists of 3 parts: 1) data relevant to the plant residues that were applied as mulch on the field plots. Final residues include the remaining biomass of the initial residues mixed with the crop residues at the end of the growing season. Data characteristics recorded concern plant residue initial and final C and N content, initial and final recalcitrance (Neutral Detergent Fibre, Acid Detergent Fibre, and lignin content), and initial plant residue dry mass 2) data relevant to the field soil. Data characteristics recorded concern soil available N as NO3- and NH4+, total soil C and N, soil bulk density, soil solution pH, and soil microbial biomass measured by PLFA analysis 3) data relevant to the wheat plants (Triticum aestivum, var. Paragon) which were cultivated in the field plots. Data characteristics recorded concern the ear length and the ear dry mass, the seed dry mass, and the seed C, N, and protein content. Cite as: Gaitanis, Dimitrios (2022): Raw data of a field experiment to assess the effect of plant residue quality, and diversity, applied as mulch, on nitrogen mineralization and on soil microbial biomass at later stages of decomposition, on crop plant quality, and on the quality of the crop residues at the end of the growing season. University of Reading. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.17864/1947.000412 Related publication: Gaitanis, D., Lukac, M., and Tibbett, M., (2022) ‘High quality plant-based mulch may increase soil fertility early, but mulch of lower quality contributes more at later stages of decomposition in field conditions’, to be submitted. Contact: Dimitrios Gaitanis, dimgaitan@yahoo.com 2. TERMS OF USE Copyright 2022 Dimitrios Gaitanis. This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION This dataset was not created in the course of a funded project. The project has been completed as part of my PhD. 4. CONTENTS File listing: E4_Field_data_RAW 1) E4_Plant_residues 1.1) E4_Plant_residue_CN_ratio 1.1.1) E4_Plant_residue_initial_CN_ratio_RAW.xlsx 1.1.2) E4_Plant_residue_final_CN_ratio_RAW.xlsx 1.2) E4_Plant_residue_recalcitrance 1.2.1) E4_Initial_plant_residue_NDF_ADF_ADL_RAW.xlsx 1.2.2) E4_Final_plant_residue_NDF_ADF_ADL_RAW.xlsx 1.3) E4_Plant_residues_initial_dry_mass_in_field_plots_RAW.xlsx 2) E4_Soil 2.1) E4_Soil_available_N 2.1.1) E4_Soil_available_N_RAW.xlsx 2.1.2) E4_Soil_N_results_RAW.xlsx 2.2) E4_Soil_microbial_activity 2.2.1) E4_PLFA.xlsx 2.2.2) E4_PLFA_RAW.xlsx 2.3) E4_Soil_bulk_density_RAW.xlsx 2.4) E4_Soil_CN_results_RAW.xlsx 2.5) E4_Soil_solution_pH_RAW .xlsx 3) E4_Wheat_plants 3.1) E4_Ear_length_and_dry_mass.xlsx 3.2) E4_Seed_dry_mass_RAW.xlsx 3.3) E4_Seeds_CN_protein_results_RAW.xlsx 5. METHODS Total C, N, and protein content were estimated by the LECO CHN 628 analyser (LECO Corporation). [1] Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF = hemicellulose + cellulose + lignin), Acid Detergent Fibre (cellulose + lignin), and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL = lignin) were estimated according to ANKOM Technology protocols (ANKOM Technology). [2] Soil microbial biomass was estimated by Phospholipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) analysis as described by Sizmur et al. [3] Soil available N (NO3-, and NH4+) was estimated by the KCl extraction method according to Great Britain M.A.F.F. standard protocol. [4] Soil solution pH was measured as described by Blakemore et al. [5]. References: [1] LECO Corporation | https://www.leco.com/product/628series. Accessed 4 March 2018. [2] ANKOM Technology, a | https://www.ankom.com/product-catalog/ankom-200-fiber-analyzer. Accessed 19 Oct 2018. [3] Sizmur, T., Tilston, E. L., Charnock, J., Palumbo-Roe, B., Watts, M. J., & Hodson, M. E. (2011) ‘Impacts of epigeic, anecic and endogeic earthworms on metal and metalloid mobility and availability’, Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 13(2), pp. 266–273. doi: 10.1039/c0em00519c. [4] Great Britain. M.A.F.F. (1986) The Analysis of agricultural materials??: a manual of the analytical methods used by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service / Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Edited by G. B. A. D. and A. Service and F. and F. Great Britain. Ministry of Agriculture. London: H.M.S.O (Reference book (Great Britain. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)??; 427.). [5] Blakemore, L., Searle, P., and Daly, B. (1981) ‘Methods for chemical analysis of soils. New Zealnd Soil Bureau Scientific Report 10A.’, Dsir, 1981(2nd revision).