Short-term effects of hardened wood ash and nitrogen fertilisation on understory vegetation in a Norway spruce forest in south-east Norway

In a fertiliser experiment in a Norway spruce forest in SE Norway, four treatments were applied in a block design with three replicates per treatment. Treatments included 3 t wood ash ha(-1) (Ash), 150 kg nitrogen ha(-1) (N), wood ash and nitrogen combined (Ash + N), and unfertilised control (Ctrl). Treatment effects on understory plant species numbers, single abundances of species and (summarised) cover of main species groups were studied. Two years after treatment there were no significant changes for species numbers or abundances of woody species, dwarf shrubs or pteridophytes, nor for Sphagnum spp. in the bottom layer. The cover of graminoids decreased in Ctrl plots. Herb cover increased significantly in Ash + N and N plots due to the increase of Melampyrum sylvaticum. In Ash + N plots, mosses decreased significantly in species number, while their cover increased. Moss cover also decreased significantly in N plots. The species number and cover of hepatics decreased significantly in Ash and Ash + N plots. Hepatics cover also decreased in Ctrl plots. Both the lichen number and cover decreased in Ash + N plots. Single species abundances decreased for many bryophytes in fertilised plots. To conclude, fertilisation had modest effects on vascular plants, while bryophytes were more strongly affected, especially by Ash + N.