This dataset contains total mercury (THg) values for terrestrial Arctic and subarctic sites exposed to different degrees of grazing, indicated by numbers in the site names where 1 expresses an exclosure site. Samples collected from Siberia (CH19) include active layer and permafrost samples, while the remaining samples, taken from Finland, were collected from sites without permafrost influence but soil winter freezing from the surface. Total mercury was measured at Alfred Wegener Institute's Permafrost Research section in Potsdam, Germany, using a Direct Mercury Analyzer (Milestone Slr DMA-80) on freeze-dried and homogenized sample material. Measurements were conducted as double measurements, using 50 mg of sample for each run, and results were compared to measurements of various standardized material. If the detection limit was not reached, double measurement was repeated with 200 mg of sample mass for each run. Further data on these samples are published in separate datasets:Siberia: https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.933446Finland (reindeer summer ranges and reference sites): https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.941930Finland (reindeer winter ranges): https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.952470

The data were created with an additional funding from Geo.X Research Network (Add-on Funding, SO_087_GeoX).