FTIR, CuO lignin, and bulk decomposition data of a 75-day anoxic Phragmites australis litter decomposition experiment in soil substrates from three northeast German wetlands

Analytical data of an anaerobic litter decomposition experiment in three waterlogged organic wetland soils. Samples include Phragmites australis leaves, harvested in autumn 2012 from three peatlands in northeastern Germany, i.e. the oligotrophic kettle-hole mire Kablow-Ziegelei, the mesotrophic terrestrialization mire Töpchin Süd, and the rewetted fen Stangenhagen. Phragmites australis rhizomes samples from the same three sites were harvested from living plants in June 2013. Waterlogged organic soils from the three sites were sampled at the same day in June 2013. The decomposition experiment was performed in the laboratory at 20 °C in polyethylene containers (80 cm × 60 cm × 43 cm) filled with the submerged organic soils. The leaf litterbags (1g litter per litterbag) and rhizome litterbags (3 g litter per litterbag) were placed close to bottom of each container for 75 days. At the end of the decomposition time, the litterbags were recovered and gently rinsed with distilled water. After weighting, litters were milled and stored at -20°C. This publication series includes data of the subsequent chemical analyses. These include litter CN-data, determined with an elemental analyzer, mass loss data, determined gravimetrically before milling, data on the peak intensity of the proteinaceous bands Amide I and Amide II, determined via peak fitting of the vector normalized FTIR spectra (Origin Peak Analyzer), the increase of the asymmetric phosphodiester band due to litter decomposition, determined as the peak height of the second derivative difference spectra at 1220 cm-1, lignin phenol concentrations, determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry after alkaline CuO oxidation of litter and soil substrates, as well as vector normalized FTIR absorption spectra (.abs) and second derivative spectra (.2der) of Phragmites australis plant litters.