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