ABoVE: Synthesis of Post-Fire Regeneration Across Boreal North America

This dataset is a synthesis of species-specific pre- and post-fire tree stem density estimates, field plot characterization data, and acquired climate moisture deficit data for sites from Alaska, USA eastward to Quebec, Canada in fires that burned between 1989 and 2014. Data are from 1,538 sites across 58 fire perimeters encompassing 4.52 Mha of forest and all major boreal ecozones in North America. To be included in this synthesis, a site had to contain information on species-specific post-fire seedling densities. This included sites where seedlings had been counted 2-13 years post-fire, a timeframe over which there was little change in relative dominance of species based on densities. Plot characterization data includes stand age, site drainage, disturbance history, crown combustion severity, seedbed conditions, and stand structural attributes. Gridded values of Hargreaves Climate Moisture Deficit (CMD) were obtained for each plot where plot coordinates were available. These values included 30-year normals (1981-2010) and CMD in the two years immediately following the fire year. CMD anomalies were calculated as the difference between the 30-year normal and the single year values for each of the first two years after a fire. These synthesis data are provided in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated May 11, 2026, 16:25 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 14:08 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 966c9501-0803-4db5-943c-57ee153ec86e
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1955
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-05-04T22:15:58Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher ORNL_DAAC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash e56d6003a06d682f3f61183f0e1f9706e3fa83336f5719655885287d85558bd1
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial [[{"WestBoundingCoordinate":-152.2,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":66.9617,"EastBoundingCoordinate":-71.0133,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":49.1156}],"CARTESIAN"]
temporal 1989-01-01/2018-12-31
theme {"Earth Science"}