Within-stand spatial distribution of ponderosa pine mortality caused by the mountain pine beetle in the Colorado Front Range

This data publication includes data collected in support of a study to examine the small scale, within stand, spatially-referenced ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) tree mortality caused by the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in a Colorado Front Range site. Data were collected in the summer of 1997 in an unmanaged low-elevation 3.1-hectare ponderosa pine stand in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. Spatially referenced basal area points were measured with a 20 basal area factor (BAF) prism in a 10 meter (m) x 10 m grid. For all “in” trees we recorded tree species, diameter at breast height (1.4 m above the ground), and whether the tree was alive of killed by mountain pine beetle. No trees had died to other causes within the study area.
Mountain pine beetle is a major natural disturbance agent that can cause extensive tree mortality of ponderosa pine in the Colorado Front Range and across western conifer forests in the United States. There is published information on the conditions that increase forest stand susceptibility to ponderosa pine, namely, dense stands with high host availability in the form of large-diameter trees. However, there is a paucity of data addressing the small scale, whiting stand variability in forest conditions that result in in the spatial distribution of tree mortality. This information can be useful for land managers when implementing forest restoration projects that aim to create similar pre-Euro-American settlement historical conditions. Restoration efforts aim primarily at reducing tree densities, increasing tree spacing and creating isolated clumps or large-diameter trees. These conditions could be suitable for the development of mountain pine beetle infestations when populations increase.