Soil respiration dataset from abandoned croplands across China

Soil respiration, a critical component of the global carbon cycle, is highly sensitive to warming. Agricultural soils, including abandoned croplands, are large sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Here, we report the responses of soil respiration and its components to warming from abandoned croplands spanning a large range in latitude (22.3 to 46.6°N) and elevation (2 to 3734 m) across China from three-year (2019 to 2021) in situ warming experiments. This dataset is a collation of soil respiration, heterotrophic respiration, and autotrophic respiration and their temperature sensitivity along with information on microclimates (e.g., soil temperature), plant biomasses, and soil carbon components (e.g., SOC) and quality under climate warming.