We found a significant increase in the density of oak species (Quercus alba, Q. coccinea, Q. montana, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina) on all burn treatments. However, oaks accounted for a smaller proportion of the total stem density than red maple, other tree species, and shrubs. The high densities of woody species other than oaks, coupled with the fast growth rates of some of these species, suggests that oaks will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage in these pine-hardwood communities through time, without further intervention. Pine regeneration was not improved on any of our burned sites with little to no recruitment of pines into the understory after two years and the pine saplings that were present before the burns were killed by fire on all sites. We found an increase in herbaceous layer cover and richness on all fire treatments. DC + B had higher bluestem grass cover than the other treatments, and it was the only treatment with increased bluestem grass cover between the first (2.96%, SE = 0.29) and second (6.88%, SE = 0.70) growing seasons. Our path model showed that fire severity explained a large proportion of the variation in overstory response; and fire severity and overstory response partially explained soil NO3-N. These variables, directly and indirectly, explained 64%of the variation in soil solution NO3-N at 30 cm soil depth (within the rooting zone for most plants). We found a good-fit path model for herbaceous layer response in the second growing season, where fire severity had direct effects on overstory and herbaceous layer responses and indirect effects on herbaceous layer response mediated through overstory response. Our path model explained 46%and 42%of the variation in herbaceous layer cover and species richness, respectively.