Native bee recovery 7-years post restoration of an Australian eucalypt woodland

Forest restoration is an increasingly common tool for combating climate change and biodiversity losses around the world. We know little, however, about how effectively and how quickly forest restoration leads to substantial gains in stored carbon and biodiversity in most forest systems around the world. In this talk, we present details on bee community recover 7-years following the implementation of a long-term restoration experiment located near Adelaide, South Australia. This project aimed to identify the most efficient and effective approach to planting-based restoration to provide both carbon storage and biodiversity benefits. The experiment included treatments that varied in tree species density and diversity. Bee surveys were conducted in 2013 prior to tree planting, in what was then an abandoned pasture and again in 2022. Sampling was done in the same way in both years and included sampling of reference forests near the experimental planting. Findings from this study help improve understanding of how quickly native bee communities respond to reforestation efforts in semi-arid woodlands and which elements of diversity recover first.