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We present the largest freely available EcoPlate dataset for Japan, comprising data collected from a network of 33 natural forest sites (77 plots) in regions of East Asia ranging from cool temperate to subtropical. EcoPlate is a 96‐well microplate that contains three repeated sets of 31 response wells with different sole carbon substrates. The utilization of each carbon substrate by the microbial community is quantified by the color density of the well during incubation. EcoPlate can provide a multifunctional index of a soil microbial community. Soil properties (water content, carbon [C] and nitrogen [N] contents, the C/N ratio, and pH) that are essential for interpreting the EcoPlate results were also measured. The network is part of the Forest and Grassland Survey of the Monitoring Sites 1000 Project established by the Ministry of the Environment. Using a standardized protocol, soil was sampled between September and December 2020. A preliminary principal component analysis was performed on the temporal integration of color density using 31 substrates. For the temporal integration, we calculated the cumulative amount of color development by integrating the color density development curve. PC1 contributed 55.6% and is thought to represent the magnitude of the overall absorbance of all substrates. The model of environmental factors including elevation and the model of soil properties, including water content and pH, were selected as the best‐fit models for variation in PC1. EcoPlate data enable the meta‐analysis of comparative studies among forest types and testing community ecology and ecosystem function hypotheses at broad spatial scales. The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP‐2022‐01.1/jalter‐en. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In community ecology, trait‐based approaches have been strongly recommended in recent years to understand the responses of community functions against environmental changes. Trait‐based approaches have been used to solve the mechanistic rules in the relationship between soil animal communities and environmental change. However, databases of functional traits of soil animals are still lacking. Collembola is one of the most abundant and diverse group in land ecosystems, with more than 400 identified species in Japan. This data set provides taxonomic information, geographic, habitat distributions and 13 morphological trait items of 407 species of Japanese Collembola: described in Japanese literature. The workshop of Japanese Collembola, supported by the Japanese Society of Soil Zoology, summarized the taxonomy for the Japanese Collembola species. The data set presented here is mainly based on their work. The spatial coverage of this data set is in the land area of Japan. Suborder, superfamily, family, subfamily, genus and species names, as well as common Japanese names, are listed in this paper. The species distributions of Japanese Collembola in each global ecozone and in each area within Japan were described. Habitat preference for soil, cave, seashore and tree trunk habitats was recorded. The 13 morphological traits of Collembola species, which are body length; body weight of adult individual; body form; antenna length; furca length; body pigmentation; pairs of ocelli (eyes); post‐antennal organ; pseudocelli; body scale; anal spine; mandible and molar plate are listed in this dataset. These 13 morphological traits in this dataset are covered the most of trait items which have been internationally used in Collembola study. Trait‐based studies of Collembola have mainly been for European species, most of which are not found in Japan or East Asia. These data sets may provide an important first step to incorporating community data from the Asian region to the trait‐based global ecology. Data files are stored in the Ecological Research Data Archives at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/ER_DataPapers/archives/2019/ERDP-2019-03. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]