This dataset contains soil nutrient and chemistry data from soils collected in 1989 at the 15 long-term NPP study sites at the Jornada Basin LTER site. The study sites were selected to represent the 5 major ecosystem types in the Chihuahuan Desert (upland grasslands, playa grasslands, mesquite-dominated shrublands, creosotebush-dominated shrublands, tarbush-dominated shrublands). For each ecosystem type, three sites were selected to represent the range in variability in production and plant diversity; thus the locations are not replicates. In 1989, replicate soil samples were collected at multiple depths from buffer zones surrounding the long-term vegetation monitoring plots. Nutrient and chemical analyses were subsequently performed on these soils, and the data here include inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, pH, cation concentration, percent organic carbon, and other variables. This dataset is complete.