Data on beetle-killed and surviving lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) radial growth from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, MT prior to a severe mountain pine beetle outbreak

This article contains measurements of raw radial growth, distance to pith, and calculated basal area increments (BAI) from 444 5-mm increment cores (237 trees) collected in July 2016 from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, MT. These data were used for the study presented in “Mountain pine beetle attack faster growing lodgepole pine at low elevations in western Montana, USA” [1]. Plot locations where increment cores were taken as well as code to calculate BAI are also included. Cores were collected from lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) trees that were killed during a recent bark beetle outbreak (220 cores; 117 trees) as well as trees that survived the outbreak (210 cores; 113 trees) in twelve stands spanning north and south aspects and three elevational bands along a 600-m gradient. 14 additional cores were collected from 7 strip-attacked trees. Increment cores were prepared and measured using standard dendrochronological techniques, “An Introduction to Tree-Ring Dating” [2]. Master chronologies for each aspect-elevation combination were created using approximately ten cores from surviving trees at each location. Cores were cross-dated, then scanned at 2400 dpi. Annual ring widths were measured using CooRecorder 7.7, “Cybis Electronic, CDendro and CooRecorder V.7.7” [3], and final chronologies were quantitatively validated in COFECHA, “Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement, Tree-Ring Society” [4].