Data for "Pines vs. oaks revisited: Forest type conversion due to high-severity fire in Madrean Woodlands"

This data publication contains the data from a two-year project, "Pines vs. Oaks Revisited: Forest Type Conversion Due to High-severity Fire in Madrean Woodlands," funded by the Joint Fire Science Program (Project ID 15-1-07-22). This study was carried out in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona and includes data from 68 plots that were sampled in 2016-2017. These vegetation plots were repeatedly sampled before and after the 1994 Rattlesnake and 2011 Horseshoe Two Fires in the Chiricahua Mountains to evaluate the extent to which repeated crown fires have converted Madrean pine-oak forest to oak shrubland in the Sky Islands of Arizona. This data publication also includes some of the data collected prior to the 2016-2017 study. Data include (1) Drought: annual Palmer Drought Severity Index for southeastern Arizona for 1895-2016. (2) Soil nutrient status in relation to fire severity (delta normalized burn ratio, dNBR) in plots. (3) Litter depth relation to fire severity (delta normalized burn ratio, dNBR) in plots. (4) Canopy cover in relation to fire severity. (5) Physiography, moisture, solar radiation, and fire severity for the same plots. (6) Woody plant species importance. (7) Density of juveniles of pines and oaks for five sample years from 1988-2016. (8) Height of juveniles for pine and oak species. (9) Leaf reflectance for pine and oak juvenile plants from a subset of plots. (10) Photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration of leaves of pines and oaks from a subset of plots. (11) Chlorophyll, anthocyanin, and water content for leaves of pines and oaks collected from a subset of plots. (12) Wood isotope data to assess drought response for five annual rings after the Horseshoe Two Fire for juveniles of pines and oaks. These datasets may be useful for future comparisons across sites in the Southwest that examine the impacts of wildfire and compare responses across woody plant species.
These data were collected to investigate the differing responses of pine vs. oak species to large wildfires and the changes wrought on Madrean pine-oak forest.
These data are also available through the University of Maine at Farmington and Wesleyan University.