Data from: Northeastern North America as a potential refugium for boreal forests in a warming climate

High precipitation in boreal northeastern North America could help forests withstand the expected temperature-driven increase in evaporative demand, but definitive evidence is lacking. Using a network of tree-ring collections from 16,450 stands across 583,000 km2 of boreal forests in Québec, Canada, we observe a latitudinal shift in the correlation of black spruce growth with temperature and reduced precipitation, from negative south of 49°N to largely positive to the north of that latitude. Our results suggest that the positive effect of a warmer climate on growth rates and growing season length north of 49°N outweighs the potential negative effect of lower water availability. Unlike the central and western portions of the continent's boreal forest, northeastern North America may act as a climatic refugium in a warmer climate.Black spruce standardized chronologiesThe file contains the standardized growth indices (chronologies) for 378 black spruce populations across Quebec, Canada, for the period 1960-2004. Each chronology in identified by its lat-lon coordinates. In addition, the file displays the soil type (deposit, texture, drainage) associated with each chronology.DRYADchrons.csvHistorical monthly climateThis file contains the average monthly temperature, precipitation and soil moisture index, identified by their lon-lat coordinates, corresponding to the black spruce chronologies (1960-2004).DRYADclim.csvBaseline and future climate simulationsSpatially-explicit climate data (Shape files) from the NEX-GDDP dataset, prepared by the Climate Analytics Group and NASA Ames Research Center using the NASA Earth Exchange, distributed by the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS), and transformed by Travis Logan at Ouranos, Montreal, Canada. The data cover the southern part of Quebec, Canada, and summarize the outputs of 21 climate simulations and two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCP). The data are divided in three sets: historical (1970-2000), future (2041-2070) with a 4.5 RCP and future (2041-2070) with a 8.5 RCP.FinalShapefiles.zi