Copper distribution in German vineyards and its impact on soil organisms - Dataset of physical, chemical and biological soil parameters of a field survey from 2010 to 2014

The use of copper-containing fungicides in plant protection has a long history and is today widespread in both organic and conventional agriculture in Germany. The treatments are primarily used to control plant diseases such as downy mildew in vines and hops, collar rot and canker, and apple scab in fruit trees. The regularly re-approval of copper as a pesticide in the European Union is always accompanied by critical discussions about the toxic effects of copper on soil organisms, especially earthworms. This results in the need for independent advice on ecotoxicological risks with field data for the authorities involved in the regulation of copper-containing pesticides. Based on the EU's regulation 1107/2009/EC, the current approval of the active ingredient copper is limited until 2025 and has been included on the list of substitution candidates (article 24) due to its persistency. This category requires a comparative assessment under article 50 with alternatives, mainly less toxic fungicides or resistant cultivars. This data set reflects the spectrum of copper load situation in German vineyards and can be used for risk assessment of artificially applied copper on earthworm and microbial communities in vineyard soils and even other agricultural soils based on field data. It contains 78 sampling areas in total on 10 German quality wine-growing regions. At each sampling area soils of four diagonal sampling points (4 × 0.25 m²) were excavated. In sum, soils from 312 sampling points were collected from the top 20 cm soil depth. The samples were collected in April and October between 2010 and 2014. This survey in German wine-growing regions includes following parameters: Soil data: soil texture (sand, clay, silt), pH-value, organic matter content, element concentrations of nutrient and heavy metals (As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, V, Zn), mobile ("bioavailable") Cu contents extracted with 1 M NH₄NO₃ and 0.001 M CaCl₂. Earthworm data: ecological group, taxa, development stage (adult, juvenile), abundance (number of individuals per 0.25 m²), biomass (g per 0.25 m² FM), element concentration of earthworm tissue of environmentally relevant elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn). Functional microbial community data: long term soil respiration, microbial biomass, metabolic quotient, dehydrogenase activity.