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Definitions of Data Columns

There are various measures used to characterize populations of southern pine beetle and their impacts to landowners, managers, and timber markets. Some of the simpler measures are available for all years, others only for more recent years. All are defined here although you may wish to refer to the Methods section for more detailed information on how the data were collected and processed. Fields are listed by southwide or state-level versus county-level tables and listed in the order of appearance in those tables.

State and Southwide Summaries

Year

calendar year

Outbreak Counties

number of counties reporting at least one southern pine beetle infestation ("spot") per thousand acres of host type forest

Damages

the volume of sawtimber and pulpwood killed by southern pine beetle multiplied by their respective stumpage prices and adjusted to 2004 dollars using the producer price index for lumber and wood products as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (note that southwide numbers are listed in millions of dollars)

Killed Sawtimber

volume of sawlogs killed by southern pine beetle, expressed in million board feet

Percent of Typical Sawtimber Harvest

killed sawlog volume divided by annual state sawtimber harvest volumes typical around this year (more...)

Killed Pulpwood

volume of pulpwood sized logs killed by southern pine beetle, expressed in thousands of cords

Percent of Typical Pulpwood Harvest

killed pulpwood volume divided by annual state harvest volumes typical around this year (more...)

 

State by Year Tables of County-Level Data

FIPS

code that uniquely identifies the county

ST

state as a two-letter abbreviation

County

county name

Outbreak

outbreak status, where a "1" indicates at least one southern pine beetle infestation ("spot") per thousand acres of host type forest

Total Spots

number of southern pine beetle infestations ("spots") reported in this year and county

State Spots

number of southern pine beetle infestations reported on non-NFS lands, usually as reported by the states

Fed. Spots

number of southern pine beetle infestations reported on National Forest System lands, usually reported by NFS personnel

Spots/Thous. Acres

a measure of outbreak intensity calculated by dividing total spots by host type forests

Host Acres

estimated number of acres characterized as either loblolly/shortleaf type or oak/pine type (more...)

Outbreak Level

a four-level categorization of spots per thousand acres using the following levels:

• 0 = less than 0.1 spots per thousand acres
• 1 = 0.1 to less than 1 spot per thousand acres
• 2 = 1 to less than 3 spots per thousand acres
• 3 = three or more spots per thousand acres