These data were compiled to improve our understanding of how water, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) interact to regulate below ground carbon cycling. Objective(s) of our study were to evaluate how soil heterotrophic carbon cycling responded to inputs of water, C, N, and P individually and interactively on the Colorado Plateau. These data represent soil microbial and CO2 respiration responses to amendments of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and water. Soils were collected at a study site located in Arches National Park in southeastern Utah on 14 August 2017 and again on 17 July 2018 from the upper 10 cm of the soil profile in open spaces among plant canopies after the biological soil crust layer (< 1 cm depth) was removed. These data were processed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Utah State University in a lab at the USGS-Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, Utah. These data can be used to assess some carbon pools, fluxes, and responses to resource additions for a dryland ecosystem.