Early departures and delayed arrivals: Holocene dynamics of temperate tree species in the boreal temperate ecotone

Understanding historical dynamics of peripheral populations over the Holocene provides key insights to anticipate species responses to ongoing global changes. A marginal stand at the leading edge of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) range was hereby investigated to infer the Holocene dynamics of sugar maple, red maple (Acer rubrum), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), three prominent temperate tree species of the boreal-temperate forest ecotone in eastern Canada.
Soil macrofossil charcoal analysis of 25,595 charred wood particles revealed that white pine is detected at this marginal temperate forest site since the early-Holocene, red maple since the mid-Holocene, and sugar maple since the late-Holocene. 
The transition from the warmer mid-Holocene to the cooler late-Holocene was marked by a decrease of white pine, which was expected because the overall bioclimatic envelope of temperate species shifted southward in response to lower mean temperatures of the Neoglacial. In contrast, the a..., , # Data from: Early departures and delayed arrivals: Holocene dynamics of temperate tree species in the boreal temperate ecotone.

A MSExcel spreadsheet including data used to analyze tree-size structure, grid sampling, charcoal diversity, and radiocarbon dates in 6 plots and 10 transects of a marginal leading-edge sugar maple population in the northern part of the boreal-temperate forest ecotone in eastern Canada.

## Description of the Data and file structure

Sheet 1 - Metadata. Provides details about the location of the study plots.

Sheet 2 - Tree size structure. At each plot (n = 6), every tree was identified to the species level, its state was reported as alive, dead standing or dead fallen, and its diameter at breast height (DBH) was measured. Based on this measurement, basal area was calculated for each tree.

Sheet 3 - Grid sampling. Sampling locations of grid-based sampling design. Number of charcoal fragments per sampling site and presence or absence (P/A) of Acer sp., A. rur...,