A global dataset of plant available and unavailable phosphorus in natural soils derived by Hedley method

Soil phosphorus (P) fractions are critical for understanding soil P dynamics and availability. This paper provides a global dataset of soil P fractions separated by the Hedley method. The dataset also includes key environmental factors associated with soil P dynamics and availability, including climate factors, vegetation, soil and parent material types, soil age, and soil physiochemical properties such as particle size, bulk density, pH in water, organic carbon, total nitrogen, and extractable iron and aluminium concentrations. This dataset includes measures of Hedley P fractions of 802 soil samples and was gathered through a literature survey of 99 published studies. Plant availability of each soil P fraction was noted. We anticipate that the global dataset will provide valuable information for studying soil P dynamics and availability, and it will be fused into earth system models to better predict how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to global environmental changes.