Surface organic and mineral soil layers were sampled in retrogressive thaw slump disturbance scars and nearby undisturbed tundra to estmate the influence of this thermo-erosional--thermokarst--disturbance type on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. Within six independent sites, we identified multiple thaw slump scars and determined time after disturbance for each scar by (1) aging the population of tall deciduous shrubs rooted in the mineral soil and (2) by dating the basal layer of the re-accumulating soil organic matter.
Data Set Results
Below ground soil bulk density, carbon and nitrogen was measured at various depth increments in mineral and organic soil layers at three sites at and around the Anaktuvuk River Burn: severely burned, moderately burned and unburned. This data corresponds with the aboveground biomass and root biomass data files: 2011ARF_AbvgroundBiomassCN, 2011ARF_RootBiomassCN_byDepth, 2011ARF_RootBiomassCN_byQuad, 2011ARF_RootBiomassCN_byQuad.
Summarized below ground soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations measured in quadrats at three sites at and around the Anaktuvuk River Burn: severely burned, moderately burned and unburned. This data corresponds with the aboveground biomass and root biomass data files: 2011ARF_AbvgroundBiomassCN, 2011ARF_RootBiomassCN_byDepth, 2011ARF_RootBiomassCN_byQuad, 2011ARF_SoilCN_byDepth.