Impacts of woodchip amendments and soil nutrient availability on understory vegetation establishment following thinning of a ponderosa pine forest

Mechanical thinning for fire mitigation has become increasingly widespread in recent years throughout the western United States. A common practice in fire-mitigation procedures is the conversion of slash into chipped mulch (referred to as “woodchips”) that is spread on-site. Here, we investigated: (1) the effect of woodchip amendments on soil nitrogen availability, and (2) the influence of potential interactions between woodchip amendments and soil nitrogen availability on patterns of understory plant establishment in a thinned montane forest in the Front Range of Colorado.