Data collected on Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine traumatic resin ducts formed in response to fungal inoculation

This data publication includes data measured as part of a study of xylem traumatic resin duct (TRD) formation in Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine trees inoculated with both aggressive and weak fungi associated with the principal bark beetles that affect these trees, in the Roosevelt National Forest in Larimer County in Colorado. Thirty Douglas-fir and 30 lodgepole pine trees were selected for treatment and an additional five trees of each species were also selected for the control treatment. Selected trees had an approximate diameter at breast height (dbh) of approximately 20 centimeters (±2.3 cm) and showed no evidence of beetle activity. All trees were on a north-north-east aspect of a similar slope. The study took place between July and September 2019 and included measurements of TRD densities, TRD position as a percent within the study year's tree ring as well as soil moisture and experimental trees water potential measurements.
The main research objective for these data was compare TRD formation in Douglas fir and lodgepole pine in response to fungi associated with the respective principal bark beetles affecting these trees. Additional data such as soil moisture and water potential were used principally to determine tree decline and to determine whether water deficit would have become a confounding variable.
For more information about this study and these data, see Mercado et al. (2023).