Plant species and biomass, soil respiration, soil environment data on Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik, Quebec, Canada

Ongoing climate change affects various interconnected biotic and abiotic components in the Arctic ecosystem. However, capturing data on multiple components of the Arctic ecosystem simultaneously and sympatrically is difficult. We investigated vascular plant community composition, plant biomass, soil respiration and several soil environmental factors in the Canadian subarctic zone. We recorded 88 vascular plant species, seven soil environmental factors, above- and below-ground biomass, soil respiration within 1 × 1-m quadrats in tundra and forest sites. Shrub species were recorded at the highest frequency in all sites. Environmental factor data showed that the soil was relatively acidic and, in the tundra site, shallow, suggesting the strong contribution of country-rock in the Canadian shield. These data filling data gaps in the Arctic region have potential value to help our understanding of the ecosystem and can be used for future predictions or global-scale analyses.