Vegetation and soils of pine forests in Canada’s Rocky Mountain National Parks (Banff and Jasper, in Alberta, Canada): a 47-year dataset

These are data on vegetation (trees and understory) from five (1 ha) permanent sample plots in pine-dominated (Pinus contorta) forests in Banff and Jasper National Parks (Alberta, Canada) including data from three time periods: 1967, 1989, and 2010s and soils data collected in 1967 and 1968. Data were collected in contiguous quadrats (5m x 5m) set up as a spatially structured grid in each plot. The files are organized in folders, visible with the 'tree' option under the 'files' tab. These folders are: *1_Overview_and_metadata: has 1a_Summary_quick-start.pdf (a concise summary of the project), 1b_ReadMe_Summary.txt (a detailed description), 1c_data_dictionary.csv (a list of all data files, including variables and metadata); *2_Publications: has .pdf files, including a list of publications from the data and the three graduate theses; *3_Plot_setup_and_sampling_design: has .pdf files with diagrams of the plot setup at each site and five .csv files with details on plot sampling and topographic data; *4_Vegetation_data_files: has four .csv files with tree and understory vegetation data; *5_Dendrochronology_data_files: has 15 files with dendrochronology data by species for each site;*6_Soils_data_files: has four files with data on soil chemical and physical properties. This project was conducted with the financial and technical assistance of the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution’s Living Data Project. The LDP is funded by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program. This project was mentored by David Hunt and Sally Taylor.