The extent of young postfire conifer forests is growing throughout western North America as the frequency and size of high‐severity fires increase, making it important to understand ecosystem structure and function in early seral forests. Understanding nitrogen (N) dynamics during postfire stand development is especially important because northern conifers are often N limited. We resampled lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var....

Disturbance and succession have long been of interest in ecology, but how landscape patterns of ecosystem structure and function evolve following large disturbances is poorly understood. After nearly 25 years, lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia ) forests that regenerated after the 1988 Yellowstone Fires (Wyoming, USA ) offer a prime opportunity to track the fate of disturbance‐created heterogeneity in stand structu...