Forest response to permafrost thaw in the southern Northwest Territories

These data were collected to characterize and explain recent forest dynamics in a boreal peatland located at approximately 61.31oN, 121.29oW (near the Scotty Creek Research Station). In 2013 and 2014, every tree stem with a diameter at breast height (1.3 m) greater than 1 cm was measured, mapped, and identified to species in a 10 ha plot (800 m by 120 m) encompassing a mosaic of well-drained, densely forested “plateaus” (underlain by permafrost) and treeless or sparsely treed wetlands (permafrost-free). This resulted in coordinates and diameter measurements for more than 40,000 stems. In 2018, every stem was revisited to assess its status (alive or dead), and new stems that had reached the necessary size for inclusion since 2013/2014 were measured, mapped and identified to species. These data provided spatially explicit tree mortality and recruitment rates for the period 2014-2018. In addition, tree seedlings were tallied in 1-m2 quadrats at 20 m intervals throughout the plot in 2019, and tree growth rates over the past several decades (derived from annual ring width measurements) were quantified using micro core samples obtained from 120 representative individuals of each of the three dominant tree species in the plot. Finally, a suite of abiotic variables were measured at 20 m intervals throughout the plot, including frost table depth, soil organic layer thickness, fibric layer thickness, and the degree of peat humification (using the qualitative von Post scale).

These data were collected to characterize and explain recent forest dynamics due to permafrost thaw in a boreal peatland in the southern Northwest Territories.

Baltzer, Jennifer; Patankar, Rajit; Dearborn, Katherine; Wallace, Cory A. (2021), Permafrost thaw in boreal peatlands is rapidly altering forest community composition, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0cfxpnw0p

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https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.0cfxpnw0p