Understory responses to tree thinning and seeding indicate stability of degraded pinyon juniper woodlands

View fact sheet.

In this work, researchers examined understory plant community responses to ecological restoration treatments at two pinyon-juniper woodland sites in northwestern Arizona. We asked the following questions: 1) do restoration treatments, that include tree thinning prescriptions guided by reference conditions, scattering thinning slash, and seeding, lead to increases in plant cover and species richness; and 2) how do understory responses differ across sites with contrasting soils characteristics?