How quickly does the understory vegetation and litter layer recover following complete removal? This is the main question addressed in our perturbation-recovery experiment in 10 x 10 m subplots (P-REX). After nine months, the litter layer achieved a similar extent as an undisturbed forest patch, and many new tree seedlings and monocots have entered the forest floor again. In pastures or early succession forests, grasses have grown back even more rapidly, but the disturbance of grass mats has also helped many tree seedlings to establish.
We decided to repeat the disturbance in a part of the area next February, one year (12 months) after the initial disturbance. This will allow us to measure many additional processes, but also quantify the accumulated litter and vegetation.
