Forest planting events present key opportunities to enhance forest adaptation and growth through the selection of appropriate growing materials (seeds and seedlings). Critical to such efforts is knowledge of the climatic distance that seed sources can be moved before significant growth forfeitures are incurred. These limits, referred to here as critical seed transfer distances (CSTD), can be used to identify a potential seed procurement region for any given planting site and can readily incorporate climate change projections. We assembled provenance trial data from a variety of sources and employed transfer functions to derive CSTDs for five major tree species in eastern North America. Calculated transfer limits were large, indicating that seed sources could be moved significant climatic distances before height growth was less than 90 percent relative to that of the local seed source. These broad relationships would allow considerable flexibility in resulting seed transfer systems; however, given the significant uncertainty surrounding climate change – particularly in the location and timing of extreme weather events – prudent application of seed transfer limits may be appropriate. Synthesis: We assembled and analyzed a significant amount of provenance data to derive novel information on seed movement limits for five tree species in eastern North America. This information will support forest managers in ongoing efforts to incorporate climate change into forest regeneration operations.

This dataset is a compilation of provenance data from a number of sources. Much of the data for black spruce, white spruce, and jack pine were provided by Dr. Bill Parker - a retired professor from the Forestry Faculty at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Data was also provided by: Jean Beaulieu (white spruce), retired research scientist at the Laurentian Forestry Centre, Dale Simpson (white spruce) at the Atlantic Forestry Centre, and Pengxin Lu (white pine) at the Ontario Forest Research Institute. The remainder of the data was obtained from published provenance studies as detailed in the associated publication.

This dataset provides information on the average height of seed sources at planting sites for five tree species native to eastern Canada. Following is a brief explanation of the variables found in the dataset:

Study - The name of the data provider/publisher(as further detailed in the associated publication);
Species - Name of the tree species associated with the data;
Test_Name - Name of the test site where provenance measurements were taken;
Test_Lat - Latitude of test site in decimal degrees;
Test_Long - Longitude of test site in decimal degrees;
Test_Elev - Elevation of test site in metres above sea level;
Prov_Name - Identifier of provenance\seed source where growing materials originated.
Prov_Lat -Latitude of provenance in decimal degrees;
Prov_Long -Longitude of provenance in decimal degrees;
Prov_Elev - Elevation of provenance in metres above sea level;
Height_m - Average height of provenance at test site;
Age - Age of plantation at time of height measurement;
AMEANT_T - Average annual mean temperature at test site for period spanning year of plantation establishment throughyear of height measurement;
GSLENGTH_T - Average growing season length at test site for period spanning year of plantation establishment throughyear of height measurement;
ANNP_T -Average annual precipitation at test site for period spanning year of plantation establishment throughyear of height measurement;
CMIANN_T - Average annual climate moisture index at test site for period spanningyear of plantation establishment throughyear of height measurement;
XMinT_T- Average annual extreme minimum temperature at test site for period spanningyear of plantation establishment throughyear of height measurement;
AMEANT_P- Average annual mean temperature at provenance location for 1961-1990 period;
GSLENGTH_P- Average growing season length at provenance location for 1961-1990 period;
ANNP_P- Average annualprecipitation at provenance location for 1961-1990 period;
CMIANN_P- Average annual climate moisture index at provenance location for 1961-1990 period;
XMinT_P- Average annual extreme minimum temperature at provenance location for 1961-1990 period;