Data from: Long-term effects of liming on soil physico-chemical properties and micro-arthropod communities in Scotch pine forest

We tested the long-term effects of liming on soil micro-arthropods in a stand of Scotch pine on former drift sand in the Netherlands. To counteract the effects of acidification, liming was applied in increasing quantities from 0 (control), 3, 6, 9 and 18 ton ha−1 on experimental plots over the course of 1985 and 1986. Soil samples for chemical analyses and those for extraction of soil micro-arthropods were taken in October 2017, 32 years after application. Liming did restore the buffer capacity of the soil and did increase pH and increased plant biomass of the understory. Liming, however, also created P limitation, due to Al precipitation and an excess of free Ca to bind on. The consequence of the observed P limitation was a significant decrease in herbivorous and herbofungivorous micro-arthropods, whereas fungivorous and opportunistic herbofungivores were unaffected. P availability in acidified soils had become limited, due to higher N input that also caused acidification and due to remediation with added buffer material. Decomposition of organic matter was accelerated and increased N release to the system. The forest ecosystem had become P limited, where it originally was N limited or N and P co-limited.