| The health of biological communities may be affected by forest management practices. The influence of reforestation strategies on understory vegetation, butterfly and carabid beetle assemblages was examined. Sampling was conducted in planted and naturally regenerating forests of 15, 25, 35 and 50 years of age. In addition, carabid beetle data were compared to those gathered in the same sites in 1991--1994 to assess how well temporal changes were predicted by the previous experimental design. Assemblage composition of plant and carabid beetle assemblages showed age-related trends and this related to canopy density. These communities also responded to effects of forest management; assemblages of 15-year-old planted sites tended to be distinct from natural sites. The use of butterflies as indicators in this study was hampered by small sample sizes. The original chronosequence study design predicted the current study results, validating the use of chronosequence studies when examining carabid assemblages in forests. |
