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A survey conducted in the 1920s, prior to the chestnut blight, indicated that chestnuts and oaks were codominant canopy species in White Oak Canyon, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. A second survey in 1977 suggested that chestnuts were being replaced by tree species present before the blight, particularly oaks. In 2021, we resurveyed the 10 sites included in our 1977 survey and also recorded canopy and understory trees that grew above remnant chestnut sprouts. The canopy changed more substantially during the second interval (since 1977). Birch and maples were now more abundant. Hemlock declined, and oaks were less common in the canopy. In general, the trees considered as early to mid-successional have replaced oaks and hemlock. Chestnut sprouts have become much less common since 1977, presumably as repeated cycles of diebacks have weakened rootstocks. Those sites where chestnut sprouts have persisted until 2021 differed from neighboring sites without them. Chestnut sprouts were rare in sites with birch and hemlock; chestnut has persisted in locations with red oaks in the canopy and with few other understory competitors. This survey has been conducted over a longer time interval than previous studies that asked similar questions and our results suggest that changes to the forest composition following the loss of the American chestnut may be greater than previously recognized although the relative contribution of losing this codominant species is unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granivores, such as rodents and harvester ants, are common in dryland ecosystems. In intact dryland ecosystems, the effects of such granivores on soil seed banks, plant community structure, and ecosystem functioning are well established. However, the effects of granivores on dryland restoration have received much less attention. In this study, we evaluated the seasonality of seed removal by harvester ants, seed preference of harvester ants, and effects of granivore exclosure on the soil seed bank at four sites in southeastern Utah. We studied two species of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex rugosus and P. occidentalis. The foraging behavior of Pogonomyrmex spp. was temperature‐dependent; they removed no seeds during winter months, and up to 80% of seeds during high activity in the summer. Despite seasonal differences in seed removal, Pogonomyrmex spp. did not show significant preferences for seed species. However, their seasonal foraging behavior translated into measurable differences in an experimental soil seed bank. Over the summer months, ants reduced the number of seeds in the seed bank by approximately 20%, but when ants were excluded during the winter, the number of seeds in the seed bank remained the same. This finding supports the timing of business‐as‐usual seeding practices of applying seeds in late fall. If seeds germinate in the first season after application, ant granivory is unlikely to pose a large barrier to establishment. However, if seeds remain dormant during the first year, as is common in many dryland species, seeds are vulnerable to ant granivory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]