Conifer snagfall data in bark-beetle infested subalpine forests at the Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado, USA

This data publication contains data directly associated with Rhoades et al. (2020), "Snagfall the first decade after severe bark beetle infestation of high-elevation forests in Colorado, USA". Over 4200 standing live and dead lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), and beetle-killed pine snags were tagged in 2007 following the peak of a recent mountain pine bark beetle outbreak in watersheds at the Fraser Experimental Forest in northcentral Colorado. In 2007 measurements include snag species, diameter at breast height, and status (live or dead). Snagfall were re-sampled ten (in 2016) and twelve (in 2018) years later and data include the cause, position and direction of windthrow were recorded along with whether or not the trees appeared to fall as a group or separately.
The persistence and fall rate of snags (standing dead trees) generated during bark beetle outbreaks have consequences for the behavior, effects and suppression of potential wildfires, hazard tree and timber salvage operations, wildlife habitat and numerous ecosystem processes. However, post-beetle snagfall dynamics are poorly understood in most forest types.
These data were originally published on 12/11/2019. Minor metadata updates were made on 03/11/2024. For more information about these data and this study, see Rhoades et al. (2020).