Tree species influences diversity of ground-dwelling insects in afforested fields

Abstract Impaired natural ecosystems, such as agricultural lands, are restored toward original or other target stage. Because the long agricultural history has changed the physical, chemical and biological features of the soil, afforested fields can harbor novel species assemblages and interactions. Our overall aim was to quantify the diversity of ground beetles and ants in early successional afforested fields. In a large scale field experiment, we compared plots that had been afforested 25 years ago by planting monocultures of birch, pine or spruce trees. A total of 4080 carabid individuals representing 41 species, and 131,933 ant individuals representing 15 species were recorded. Both the…