Tree cone presence and abundance from Niwot Ridge, Rollins Pass, and Rocky Mountain National Park, 2015-2018.

These data were collected to examine the determinants of individual
tree cone presence and cone abundance for Engelmann spruce (Picea
engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in the southern
Rocky Mountains, USA. We monitored > 1600 Engelmann spruce and
subalpine fir trees for cone presence (an indicator of reproductive
maturity) and a subset of those trees for cone abundance (an indicator
of seed production) from 2016-2018 in the Colorado Front Range. Cone
presence was observed in 1-3 years (2015 or 2016-2018) in 15 plots and
cone abundance was observed in 10 of 15 plots in three years
(2016-2018). We measured the following for > 24 live trees for each
species in each plot: cone presence and/or cone abundance, diameter at
breast height, age, height class. For each plot, we measured stand
density, basal area, and age of oldest tree to estimate the timing of
stand initiation. This database includes three datasets: 1)
description of plots (e.g. elevation, aspect, size), 2) cone presence
data, and cone abundance data. See Andrus et al. 2020 for more
details. References Andrus, R. A., Harvey, B. J., Hoffman, A., and Veblen, T.
T.. 2020. Reproductive maturity and cone abundance vary with tree size
and stand basal area for two widely distributed
conifers. Ecosphere 11( 5):e03092. 10.1002/ecs2.3092