soil metagenome
In two Bombax ceiba-dominated Fengshui forests (BFS1,BFS2) and one Bombax ceiba-absent Fengshui forest (FS), we established three temporal gradients corresponding to distinct phenological phases of Bombax ceiba: pre-flowering stage (early February, T1), full flowering stage (early March, T2), and post flowering stage (early April, T3), with 30-day intervals between adjacent phases. Spatial sampling gradients were defined as forest center (R0) and forest edge (R1). Soil samples were collected using a quadrant sampling method: four cardinal directions (east, south, west, north) were systematically sampled to comprehensively capture intra-forest and edge soil heterogeneity. At each sampling point, vertical stratified sampling was performed. Three to five soil cores (5 cm diameter) were randomly extracted using a soil auger. After removing incompletely decomposed surface litter, two depth layers were collected: surface soil (1~10 cm, d0) and subsurface soil (11~20 cm, d1).This protocol was optimized to precisely characterize temporal variations in soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities across distance, phenological phase, and depth gradients. To ensure data robustness, independent composite samples were prepared for each treatment combination through multi-point random layout and quartering homogenization.