Supporting data for: Post-fire early successional vegetation buffers surface microclimate and increases survival of planted conifer seedlings in the southwestern United States

Climate change and fire-exclusion have increased the flammability of
western US forests, leading to forest cover loss when wildfires occur
under severe weather conditions. Increasingly large high-severity burn
patches are a limitation to natural regeneration because of dispersal
distance, increasing the chance that these areas are converted to
non-forest. Post-fire planting can overcome dispersal limitations, yet
warmer and drier post-fire conditions can still limit survival. Early
successional vegetation can alter surface microclimate; however, it is
unclear whether this is enough to increase planted seedling survival in
southwestern US forests. Here we examined how two shrub species of
different canopy density would affect survival rates of planted tree
seedlings following a high-severity fire in northern New Mexico. We
expected that shrubs with a higher density canopy (Gambel oak) would have
a greater effect on buffering below-shrub climate than shrubs with a lower
density canopy (New Mexico locust) and seedlings planted under Gambel oak
would have higher survival rates. We found that seedlings planted under
Gambel oak had survival rates approximately 10% to 35% greater than those
planted under New Mexico locust.  The higher light availability
beneath New Mexico locust corresponded to higher temperatures, lower
humidity, and higher VPD, which impacted the mortality of planted tree
seedlings. These results suggest that by waiting for post-fire shrub
establishment, shrubs can be leveraged to buffer microclimate and increase
post-fire planting success in the southwestern US.