"These data are the input values for the investigating the use of principal response curves (PRC) for assessing change in soil properties after Full-Inversion Tillage, paper linked to these data:" The R-code to perform the analyses and generic analyses are also presented. Col.No Description More information Index Numeric counter 0.219444444 site "Two sites - either Heslington Yotk, or Kirkby, Merseyside " Denoted york or kirkby loc location "replicated core number York=1-9, Kirkby-1-7" trt One of two treatments "aNT = ""pre-treatment sample; FIT = post Full-Inversion ploughing treatment" samp sample code internal code denoting the depth of soil sub-sampled within a given replciated core (loc) depth mid depth of the soil sub-sample cm top top depth of the soil sub-sample cm bottom bottom depth of the soil sub-sample cm toc soil total organic carbon % n soil total nitorgen % cn total carbon:nitrogen ratio dimensionless ph soil pH dimensionless no3 extractable soil nitrate-nitrogen µg g-1 nh4 extractable soil ammonium-nitrogen µg g-1 po4 extracable soil P µg g-1 k Exchangeable soil K µg g-1 mg Exchangeable soil Mg µg g-1 ca Exchangeable soil Ca µg g-1 Methods Site description "Soil cores were collected from two sites possessing different soil types. The first site was an area of derelict land of ca. 1 ha at the University of York, Heslington, Yorkshire, UK (-1.0416290 W longitude; 53.947242 N latitude; National Grid Reference SE 62999 50552). The site was in agricultural use up to 2011, after which it became ancillary land adjacent to a construction project at the University. During this period it had been used primarily for site access, storage of construction materials and had suffered heavy disturbance from the laying of service provisions (drainage and power services) associated with the construction. The site has a clay-loam soil." "The second site was an area of semi-suburban green belt grassland of ca. 1.0 ha at Kirkby, Merseyside, UK (-2.876170 W longitude; 53.465736 N latitude; National Grid Reference SJ 41702 96915). Presently, the site forms part of a Conservation Area that runs parallel to the M57 motorway, but historically was predominantly rural meadowland and willow plantation. The site has a sandy soil." Soil sampling and analysis "At both sites the soil-depth profile was sample before inversion (no tillage - NT) and after Full-Inversion tillage (FIT); 42 days after FIT at Heslington and 23 days after FIT at Kirkby. On each sampling date, soil-depth cores were sampled from random locations; nine were sampled at Heslington and seven at Kirkby, the sampling density conformed to Stolbovoy et al’s (2005) recommendation. Each depth-core comprised eight sequentially-stacked sub-samples of 12 cm length, i.e. providing a sampled depth-profile of 96 cm, well below FIT activity. Each soil sub-sample was placed into an air-tight plastic bag and transferred to a cold-store at the laboratory within three hours of collection. Soil pH, extractable P and NH4-N and NO3-N were measured on fresh soil which had been passed through a 2 mm mesh; total organic C and N and exchangeable cations were measured on air-dried soil passed through a 1 mm mesh." "Soil pH was measured in a 1:2 (w/v) soil/de-ionised water mixture using a Hanna Instruments 98103 pH meter (Hanna Instruments, Leighton Buzzard, UK). Soil extractable P concentration was measured using the NaHCO3 extraction method of Olsen et al. (1954) and both available NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations were measured using the 2M KCl extraction method of Keeney and Nelson (1987); both followed by colourimetric determination. Exchangeable K, Mg and Ca concentrations were determined by emission/absorption spectrophotometry after extraction in a 1:10 mixture of soil: 1M ammonium acetate (pH 7.0) (Allen 1989). To measure total C and N soil samples. were finely-ground in a roller mill; thereafter duplicated sub-samples (ca. 5 mg) were then desiccated and analyzed using a Carlo Erba NC2500 series CN Analyzer (Carlo Erba Instruments, Milan, Italy). Duplicate replicates that exceeded a coefficient of variation of 0.05 were re-analysed."