Native groundcover restoration results in tradeoffs with natural regeneration in planted Longleaf pine stands

Longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ) ecosystem restoration has gained significant attention due to its ecological importance and potential for carbon sequestration. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, government incentives helped convert thousands of hectares of marginal agricultural land to stands of planted Longleaf pine. This study investigated methods to restore overstory structure and groundcover community composition in planted Longleaf pine stands on lands formerly subjected to row cropping. The stands were part of a study to evaluate the relative success of seeding native groundcover after commercial thinning of overstory trees; in 2015, half of the stands were seeded with grasses and a forb. Seven years after seeding, the influence of native groundcover seeding on groundcover composition was evaluated. In these same stands, Longleaf pine regeneration was inventoried. Aboveground biomass for every groundcover species was collected using clip plots. There were significant differences in species composition between seeded and unseeded understories, with successful establishment of seeded species. The analyses revealed that groundcover biomass, light conditions, and groundcover seeding treatments influenced natural regeneration of Longleaf pine seedlings. These findings support the value of interventions such as gap creation during thinning operations to enhance regeneration but also indicate additional silvicultural manipulation may be necessary for the survival of naturally regenerated Longleaf pine seedlings. The findings also indicate that seeding native groundcover species may result in trade‐offs in Longleaf pine regeneration and subsequently how forest structure changes over time.