Dataset of physicochemical, microbiological, and plant root parameters of 135 soils from various urban land uses Blois city, France

If natural and cultivated soils have been widely investigated, urban soils are still poorly understood, especially in terms of the microbial diversity they harbor and its roles in providing soil functions and ecosystem services. This paper presents data collected from urban soils sampled at 135 sites from the medium-sized city of Blois (France), which correspond to different land uses randomly distributed in the city. In total, eight types of land use were identified, undergoing four levels of management intensity and positioned either in or out of the Loire floodplain. This data collection describes the main soil physicochemical characteristics (texture, pH, water status, chemical contents), plant traits (root functional traits) as well as abundances of broad taxonomic groups (bacterial, archaeal, and fungal), and of microbial functional groups involved in soil C, N, and P cycling, microbial diversity (sequencing of Bacteria, Archaea, and Fungi), and different microbial activities (respiration, activities linked to the nitrogen cycle, extracellular enzymatic activities, and potential methanogenesis). The dataset summarized in this article improves our knowledge about physicochemical and (micro)biological characteristics of urban soils and can be used as a reference for future studies of urban soils.