This study quantified decompoition rates, stoichiometry, and ergosterol on organic matter decomposition assays deployed as part of a flow manipulation experiment in a non-perennial stream (descriptions below).These samples were collected in support of the Talladega flow manipulation experiment, part of Approach 4 of the Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbiomes in Streams (AIMS) Project. Briefly, a before-after-control-impact (BACI) experimental design was followed to assess the impacts of flow reduction and flow recovery on microbial communities and ecosystem processes. A small plywood dam and plastic drainage pipes were used to divert flow from an 85-m section of the stream. This resulted in two study reaches: 1, an impacted reach downstream of the dam, where flow is reduced when the dam is activated but recovers when the pipes are detached dam, and 2, an un-impacted reference reach upstream of the dam where flow is not impacted by the damming. Withing each reach, decomposition assays were deployed in riffles and in pools, as well as in adjacent riparian habitats, henceforth 'topograpic habitats'. Some samples are controls not deployed in the field, but used for initial stoichiometry, ergosterol, or to estimate leaf litter mass lost to leaching. For assays deployed in the stream, deployments were carried out over four time periods, as follows: t1) a twenty-day period before flow diversion began, t2a) starting five days before flow diversion and ending fifteen days into the flow diversion, for a total of twenty days, t2b) a twenty-five day period entirely during the flow reduction phase, and t3) a twenty-one day period starting two days before flow recovery began and continuing through the flow recovery phase.
Multiple data files are required for cotton strips because replicates used for tensile strength were distinct from those used for stoichiometry and ergosterol. One file contain initial and remaining leaf litter mass loss, and for leaves and cotton, percent of AFDM, C, N, and P, and ergosterol per gram of dry mass. A second file contains raw cotton strip tensile strength data, since replicates for tensile strength were separate from those used for compositional data.

Talladega Site Description:
Talladega (stream code=TAL) research watershed (outlet location: 33.76219799, -85.59550775) in the Talladega National Forest (Cleburne County, AL, USA). The watershed drains a non-perennial unnamed tributary of Pendergrass Creek, and contains 0.92 km^2 of mixed coniferous and deciduous forest in the Piedmont Upland physiographic section. Located near Anniston, AL, the watershed spans an elevation range from 345 to 456 m above sea level and is a tributary to the Coosa River (within the larger Mobile-Tombigbee basin). The region has a humid subtropical climate, with mean daily January and July air temperatures of 5.3°C and 25.3°C respectively, and mean annual precipitation of 1,400 mm/yr.