Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: 2004-2025 — Data Package (PUBLIC)

This Data Package includes several text files in comma-separated-values (CSV) format that were assembled with an R script from a administrative relational database in Microsoft Access. Each text file reflects distinct elements of a long-term, interagency monitoring program for Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) trees in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. These monitoring data comprise a statistical sample for tracking whitebark pine tree population condition and trend on National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management lands in the region. This slow-growing, long-lived conifer influences critical ecosystem functions in subalpine environments, including snow capture, landscape stability, soil amelioration, and overall forest health and resilience. The nutritious seeds from whitebark pine tree cones provide an important food source for grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), and other species. Whitebark pine is declining in high-elevation forests due to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks, wildfire, and drought. Tree mortality, particularly of large, mature trees, has reduced cone production and compromises this species’ essential ecosystem services. Consequently, in 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the whitebark pine as federally threatened.
Organization: Department of the Interior
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/doi
Last updated: 2026-05-29T00:00:00Z
Tags: 5-needle pine, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Infestations and Disease | Insect Pests, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Infestations and Disease | Plant Diseases, Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics, GYE, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, aecia, blister rust, cones, five needle pine, grizzly bear, keystone species, midden, mountain pine beetle, observer difference, recruitment, squirrel middens, subalpine, white pine blister rust, whitebark pine