DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4j4
title: Insect herbivore damages on white spruce growing in plantations and naturally regenerated under-canopy forest stands

description: This data was prepared to compare insect damage on white spruce (Picea
 glauca (Moench) Voss, Pinaceae) growing in plantations with naturally
 regenerated trees under mature forest canopies in the boreal forest
 (Québec, Canada). We selected ten sites in the naturally regenerated
 forest and small, multispecies plantations and sampled ten young trees
 (per site) in late summer 2020 and again in early and late summer 2021. We
 recorded overall rates of damage for galls, damage by spruce budworm
 (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens, 1865)), spruce bud midge, spruce
 budmoth, spruce gall midge, cooley adelgid, defoliation from sawflies and
 other caterpillars.
description: For our study, we selected ten white spruce trees per site, and
 ten sites at both plantation and forest sites (naturally regerated under
 mature forest canopies), ensuring each tree was 2 to 3.5 meters tall and
 was spaced a minimum of 5 meters apart to avoid overlapping effects. These
 sites ranged in distance from each other, extending from 100 to 2500
 meters, allowing us to capture a representative sample of the habitat
 variability. We commenced our initial sampling during the late summer of
 July-August 2020 and conducted follow-up samplings in early (May-early
 June) and late (July) summer of 2021. Our investigation focused on
 assessing the damage to the trees' current-year growth (only), by
 first observing the buds as they began to open in the spring and then
 assessing the elongated shoots. To capture the extent
 of damage, we employed two main approaches: branch sampling and whole-tree
 surveys during the growing season. Branch Data: In the
 late summers of both years (2020 and 2021), we cut a 40 cm branch from the
 mid-crown of each tree for detailed herbivory scoring (damage patterns),
 performed within 24 hours of collection. We evaluated damage types
 including bud loss—particularly from the spruce gall midge— pineapple gall
 formations by Eastern spruce gall adelgid, and shoot damage from moth
 larvae (Spruce budworm was assessed separately from other caterpillars)
 and sawflies (yellow-headed sawfly). Additionally, using the visual
 estimation technique known as the Fettes method, as adapted by Kanoti in
 2019, we assessed the total defoliation for each shoot in late summer
 2021. This method involved estimating the percentage of needles missing
 from a current year shoot averaging these across all the buds per branch
 and deriving a percent defoliation per site. We also recorded the total
 number of developed and undeveloped buds on each branch.
 Whole Tree Survey Data: During the early and late summers of
 2021, we conducted timed visual surveys on the whole trees, focusing on
 the branches around 1.5 meters from the ground for a set period of three
 minutes by a single trained person. These surveys cataloged damage
 according to predefined categories, deliberately excluding damage by the
 spruce gall midge and spruce bud moth (as these two damage-type buds need
 to be dissected or cut open to check the presence of the relevant insects)
 to maintain consistency in our data. Along with noting the damages, we
 counted the total number of buds that had developed on the branches within
 view. This method, while allowing for a quicker assessment of a larger
 number of shoots, might be less precise in detecting smaller, more subtle
 damages.
description: # Insect herbivore damages on white spruce growing in plantations and
 naturally regenerated under-canopy forest stands
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4j4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4j4) ## SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION Recommended citation for this dataset: Yataco, A.P.; Noor, S.; Girona, M.M.; Work, T.; Despland, E. (2024). Data from: Insect Herbivory on Young White Spruce in Small Open Plantations and under Natural Canopies Forests. Dryad Digital Repository. [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4j4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4j4) ## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW File List: * Sites Location (GPS and Area) information.csv * Branch Data 2020-2021.csv * Survey Data 2021_ES-LS.csv * Environmental Data 2020-2021.csv ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Sites Location (GPS and Area) information.csv 1\. Number of variables: 6 2\. Number of cases/rows: 20 3\. Variable List: * SiteID: All the Forest and Plantation sites were utilized to collect the data, except for F2 (forest), which was dropped due to the inaccessibility of bear attacks on the trees, as our tagged trees had fallen on the ground. * Treatment: Habitat type, i.e., Forest or Plantation of White spruce (*Picea glauca*) * Latitude: Latitude * Longitude: Longitude * Road: Road name to access the site in FERLD Research Station * Area: Forest and plantations covered area in hectares ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Branch Data 2020-2021.csv 1\. Number of variables: 18 2\. Number of cases/rows: 366 3\. Variable List: * Sites_ID: Unique ID case for each site, where LS= Late summer; P= Plantation or F= Forest; 1= Site number; \_1= Tree number * Treatment: Habitat type, i.e., Forest or Plantation of White spruce (*Picea glauca*) * Year: Year of data recorded (2020-2021) * Site: Site number, with a total of 10 sites in each treatment * Tree: Tree number, with a total of 10 trees per site in each treatment, and the same trees were used in both years * Developed_buds: a developed bud gave rise to a current-year shoot * Undeveloped_buds: an undeveloped one remains in the bud stage * Spruce_budworm: instances when Eastern spruce budworm (*Choristoneura fumiferana*) was found in the developing buds per branch, i.e., 1 = one spruce budworm per bud * Galls: the number of pineapple galls per branch * Sawfly_damage: number of developing shoots stripped off of their needles per branch, i.e., each shoot damage was regarded as a single instance * Spruce_gall_midge: number of broom galls per branch * Sprucebud_midge: number of circular galls at shoot tips per branch formed by *Dasineura picea* * Spruce_budmoth: instances when the number of budmoths was found in developing buds per branch * Needle_rust: instances when a single bud per branch was affected by a rusting disease, which wasn't identified in a taxonomic ranking and was excluded from the analysis * Catterpillars_other_than SBW: number of other caterpillars found per bud and branch * Fettes_defoliation: refers to estimating the percentage of needles missing from a current year shoot and averaging these across all the buds per branch and deriving a percent defoliation per tree, where 1.305555 refers to 13% defoliation that lies in the 2nd predetermined defoliation class of Fettes method. For more information see Fettes, 1950. * Total_buds_damaged: Sum of all the columns (H, I, J, K, L, M, and O) * SBW_Budshoot_larvae: Sum of Spruce_budworm (column H) and Caterpillars_other_than_SBW (column O); (This is because the instances of SBW were recorded very low in late summer, as this damage is more prominent in early summer) and then utilized together in our analysis. Missing data codes: n/a (data not available) ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Survey Data 2021\_ES-LS.csv 1\. Number of variables: 15 2\. Number of cases/rows: 380 3\. Variable List: * Sites_ID: Unique ID case for each site, where LS= Late summer; P= Plantation or F= Forest; 1= Site number; \_1= Tree number * Treatment: Habitat type, i.e., Forest or Plantation of White spruce (*Picea glauca*) * Year: Year of data recorded (2021) * Season: Season as Early Summer, and Late Summer * Site: Site number, with a total of 10 sites in each treatment * Tree: Tree number, with a total of 10 trees per site in each treatment, and the same trees were used in both years * Developed_buds: a developed bud gave rise to a current-year shoot * Spruce_budworm: instances when Eastern spruce budworm (*Choristoneura fumiferana*) was found in the developing buds per Tree, i.e., 1 = one spruce budworm per bud * Galls: the number of pineapple galls per Tree * Sawfly_damage: number of developing shoots stripped off of their needles per Tree, i.e., each shoot damage was regarded as a single instance * Sprucebud_midge: number of circular galls at shoot tips per branch formed by *Dasineura picea* * Catterpillars_other_than SBW: number of other caterpillars found per bud and branch * Needle_rust: instances when a single bud per branch was affected by a rusting disease, which wasn't identified in a taxonomic ranking and was excluded from the analysis * Total_buds_damaged: Sum of all the columns (H, I, J, K, L, and M) ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Environmental Data 2020-2021.csv This Environmental data was recorded only once per site and year during the study period. However, to correlate and avoid any biases both temperature and humidity were recorded on the same day in both habitats each year. 1\. Number of variables: 12 2\. Number of cases/rows: 384 3\. Variable List: * Sites_ID: Unique ID case for each site, where LS= Late summer; P= Plantation or F= Forest; 1= Site number; \_1= Tree number * Treatment: Habitat type, i.e., Forest or Plantation of White spruce (*Picea glauca*) * Year: Year of data recorded (2021-2021) * Tree_height: Total tree height in meters (m) * Soil_Temperature: Soil temperature in degrees Celsius (C) * Soil_Humidity: Relative humidity of soil in % * Canopy_cover: Recorded as a percentage (%) via a spherical densitometer (model C, manufactured by Forest Densiometers, Rapid City, SD, USA) * Lateral_growth_2021: The lateral growth of a current year shoot in cm; for 2021 * Lateral_growth_2020: The lateral growth of a current year shoot in cm; for 2020 * Lateral_growth_2019: The lateral growth of a current year shoot in cm; for 2019 * Lateral_growth_2018: The lateral growth of a current year shoot in cm; for 2018 * Needle_Toughness: was obtained for 10 needles per tree, and only 4 trees per site, by following (Lirette and Despland, 2021) Missing data codes: n/a (data not available)