Dead tree removal after drought mortality increases understory plant diversity in a mixed conifer forest

Altered disturbance regimes during a time of rapid global change present challenges for decision-making concerning ecosystem recovery. In the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, 129 million trees died due to severe drought from 2012-2017, raising concerns over forest ecosystem health and dead fuel loads available for future wildfires. One approach to managing forests after tree mortality is to cut and remove standing dead trees, yet the ecological effects of this management practice are not well understood, particularly in western U.S. montane coniferous forests. We compared the management practice of dead tree removal versus no removal following severe drought and insect-induced tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada and evaluated the initial effects on understory plants in terms of diversity, vegetative cover, and community composition. Understory plants were sampled in 122 paired plots (treated and untreated; 22 m diameter) spanning 300 km of the Sierra Nevada one to five years after the ..., Field data were collected in 2020 and 2021 at six sites in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA on the Stanislaus, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests, the Sequoia National Monument, on private lands owned and managed by Southern California Edison, and at Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. 
Soil lab data were processed at the University of California, Davis, Analytical Laboratory. 
Treatment consisted of felling and removal of dead trees via single-tree selection. 
Data are observational. Treatments were not implemented experimentally but rather as part of separately planned management actions. , , # Dead tree removal after drought mortality increases understory plant diversity in a mixed conifer forest

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttg)

## Description of the data and file structure

These observational data were collected for the purpose of comparing ecological outcomes in treated and untreated areas after dead tree removal in Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests. Dead tree removal was conducted in response to severe drought- and bark beetle-induced tree mortality. 

Field data were collected in 2020 and 2021 at six sites in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA on the Stanislaus, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests, the Sequoia National Monument, on private lands owned and managed by Southern California Edison, and at Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest.

Soil lab data were processed at the University of California, Davis, Analytical Laboratory.

Data are observational. Treatments were not implemented experimentally but ra...