Data supporting publication of fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience

This package contains data used for the publication "Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience" (Hood et al. 2016). This study includes measurements from 1996-2012 at the Lubrecht Fire-Fire Surrogate Study Site, which was established in 2000 and includes four treatments, an untreated control, prescribed burn, a thinning, and a thinning followed by prescribed burn. This study site is located at the University of Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest in western Montana, approximately 50 kilometers east of Missoula. Data are available in four data sets. 1) Plot level ponderosa pine mortality (≥ 10 centimeter (cm) diameter at breast height (DBH) before (2005) and after (2010 and 2012) the mountain pine beetle outbreak. 2) Plot level basal area, density, and quadratic mean diameter of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir before and after the mountain pine beetle outbreak. 3) Annual tree-level growth and resin duct defense for the most recent 15 years (1996-2011) of tree growth, including basal area increment, duct size, duct production, and total duct area. 4) Tree-level constitutive resin flow and phloem monoterpene data collected in 2012.
These data were collected as part of a long-term project to monitor forest stand dynamics after fuel treatments. During the 2005 data collection period, tree mortality from mountain pine beetle (MPB) was observed. Additional data collection was done in 2010 and 2012 to record any additional mortality and changes in forest structure and composition. In 2012 more detailed tree growth and defense data were collected in order to relate treatment differences in MPB attack success to tree physiology.
Original metadata date 5/26/2016. Minor metadata updates on 12/19/2016.