Data characterizing symbiosis between the alder bark beetle and Neonectria bordenii

Methods

Data for assessing the ability of the alder bark beetle to kill trees were collected from 400 m2 fixed-area plots. Data for evaluating, according to Leach’s postulates, the ability of the alder bark beetle to vector (i.e., carry and transmit) Neonectria bordenii were obtained from emergent beetles and infected phloem tissues in the field and laboratory. Neonectria bordenii was detected via culturing from the exoskeletons of beetles and applying a qPCR assay to individual beetle DNA extractions.