Organic layer thickness measurements from burned and unburned black spruce forests in Alaska collected between 1994 and 2012

This dataset contains organic layer thickness measurements collected in mature burned and unburned black spruce stands located throughout interior Alaska. These data were collected as part of a number of studies between 1994 and 2012 in order to quantify variations in organic layer thickness and estimate organic layer carbon in burned and unburned black spruce stands. Data were collected in sites located on a number of topographic positions, and collected in sites that burned during different time periods during the fire season. Measurements that were collected at most sites included either the total thickness of the surface organic layer, or the thickness of individual layers within the organic layer. These layers include: moss (including green and brown), fibric soil, mesic soil, humic soil, and char. Beginning in 2005, data on the height of adventitious roots above mineral soil were collected and used to estimate the pre-burn organic layer thickness.