Forest trees are commonly used for ornamental purposes and are therefore frequently found in non-forest ecosystems, especially in urbanized areas. These trees constitute an important component of the so-called trees outside forests (TOF) defined as “trees on land not defined as forest and other wooded land”, a definition that is dependent on how forests and woodlands are defined themselves (Kleinn 2000). TOF provide various ecosystem services, e.g., control over soil erosion, nutrient and water cycling, biodiversity conservation or pest control, but despite a growing interest (de Foresta et al. 2013), data documenting TOF are still scarce especially in large open-field agroecosystems. A substantial proportion of TOF are ornamental or amenity trees grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects.

In the present study, we focus on the coniferous tree species that are potential hosts for a forest defoliator, the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa Den. & Schiff. (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae) (thereafter referred to as PPM). T. pityocampa feeds on pines (Pinus spp.), cedars (Cedrus spp.), and occasionally on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) (Cielsa 2011, Roques 2015). The aim of the present survey was to carry out an exhaustive inventory of TOF constituting suitable hosts for the PPM in a 22 × 22 km study window located in the open-field region of Beauce in the centre of France (Fig. 1). Single trees, linear groups of trees and small woodlands were identified and geolocalized, and the resulting data set can be used to assess tree spatial pattern or their contribution to important landscape features (e.g. connectivity) with regards to forest organisms such as the PPM.

Figure 1.  

Survey plot (22 × 22 km) where an exhaustive inventory of all trees belonging to the genera Pinus, Cedrus and Pseudotsuga was carried during autumn and winter 2009–2010. Trees are indicated by crosses.

The geographical range of the PPM is currently expanding northward in relation to climate change (Roques 2015). During this process, the moth colonizes various non-forest areas where TOF are likely to play a key role by facilitating its dispersal especially in large open-field regions. The data reported here were specifically collected to assess how TOF that are suitable for hosts for the PPM contribute to landscape connectivity for that specie. For that reason, we did not record the tree species identity but only their status as hosts (or not). We used the data set for landscape analyses (Rossi et al. under review) and point process analyses (Rossi and Rousselet 2015). Since tree species were not recorded, we provide here the points locations without any taxonomic taxonomic information. Since - to our knowledge - there is no comparable inventory available in the literature, we publish the data set with the hope that it is useful to other researches such as comparative and/or new data analyses.

This research was partly funded by the Région Centre (project ADRIEN) and the INRA meta-program SMaCH – Sustainable Management of Crop Health (project SESAME).