## 3 Results  
### Field-Measured Aboveground Understory Biomass and Height  
A month before the prescribed fire (May 2018) or 36 months since the previous fire, the field measurements estimated the average (\(\pm\) stdev) aboveground understory biomass to be 3.42 \(\pm\) 1.08 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) (Figure 4A). The prescribed fire occurred in June 2018, and the understory biomass was remeasured -one week (0 months) following the fire, which indicated that only \(\sim\)23% of living understory biomass remained (0.79 \(\pm\) 0.59 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\)) (Figure 4A). While overall average understory biomass decreased immediately after the fire, almost 84% of the biomass was recovered within five months (2.86 \(\pm\) 1.43 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) in November 2018), and after 12 months, the understory biomass had returned to near pre-fire conditions (4.29 \(\pm\) 1.76 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) in June 2019) (Figure 4A). The t-test used to compare the mean difference between 36 months (pre-fire) and 0 months (post-fire) showed a significant difference in biomass (\(p\)\(\leq\) 0.001) (Figure 4A). However, there was no significant difference among 36 (pre-fire) vs. five months after the fire: (\(p\) = 0.177) or the 36 vs. 12 months after the fire (\(p\) = 0.070). The nested ANOVA showed that fire had a significant effect on biomass (\(F\)-value = 27.79, \(p\)\(\leq\) 0.001) as the biomass dropped immediately after the fire (0 months), however, biomass change for 5, 12, and 36 months after the fire did not differ from one another.  
Using field measurements, the average (\(\pm\)stdev) understory height pre-fire (May 2018) was found to be 0.68 \(\pm\) 0.29 m. After the prescribed fire in June 2018, the average height of the remaining live understory vegetation was reduced to 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.19 m. The average height of the understory recovered within five months of fire (0.51 \(\pm\) 0.27 m) and gained little height 12 months post-fire (0.53 \(\pm\) 0.25 m). The nested ANOVA used to assess the variation between the groups showed that fire had a significant effect on height (\(F\)-value = 2.96, \(p\) = 0.038). The \(t\)-test showed significant difference in height between 36 months (pre-fire) and 0 months (post-fire) (\(p\) = 0.002) (Figure 4B). However, there was no significant difference among two time periods 36 (pre-fire) vs. 5 months after the fire: (\(p\) = 0.065) or the 36 vs. 12 months after the fire (\(p\) = 0.094).  
The multiple regression model between height and biomass did not indicate soil moisture was significant (\(p\) = 0.295) for either the 36 months or five-month harvest. The comparison among time periods for the relationship between field height and field biomass indicated they were not different, and the combined equation showed a significant positive relationship between the two variables (\(R^{2}\) = 0.579, \(p\)\(\leq\) 0.001, \(N\) = 20) (Equation (3); Figure 5).  
\[\text{{\it Understory biomass }}=1.182\ +\ 3.461\times\text{{\it Field height}} \tag{3}\]  
Figure 4: Mean \(\pm\) stdev understory biomass (**A**) and height (**B**) at different months after a prescribed fire (June 2018) using the field harvest method. Here, 0, 5, and 12 represented the months when the measurements were collected after the fire and 36 the months since a 2015 fire but immediately before the 2018 fire (pre-fire). Note: LiDAR data was collected pre-fire- and five months post-fire.