Prescribed burning and thinning cause changes in the cover and richness of ground layer vegetation by altering light levels and forest floor properties. The ground layer is especially important for its high levels of biodiversity, importance to wildlife, and interaction with tree regeneration. We examined the response of ground layer vegetation cover and richness to four treatments: burning, thinning, thinning and burning, and an untreated control. The study area is located in the
Results/Conclusions
Our analyses indicated that overall cover increased with burning (p=.04) and thinning (p<.01). A combination of burning and thinning significantly increased cover (p<0.01) compared to the change in cover in control plots. Stands that were both burned and thinned experienced an increase in cover compared to stands that were thinned but not burned (p<0.01) and stands that were burned but not thinned (p<0.01). Both graminoid (p<0.01) and vine cover (p<0.01) increased with thinning as well as a combination of burning and thinning (p<0.01). There were no significant changes in forb cover over the treatments. Overall species richness did not change significantly following any of the treatments. Results of this study indicate that burning and thinning do promote ground layer vegetation growth in the second year following treatment.