Carabid beetles and spiders as bioindicators for the evaluation of montane heathland restoration on former spruce forests

Due to the cool and wet montane climate and the dense dwarf-shrub stands the carabid beetle and spider species characteristic of MONHEATH are typical woodland species. Four to five years after restoration, RESSITE and CONTROL still represent early successional stages with a low cover of the Ericaceae target dwarf shrubs (Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium vitis-idaea), but are already home to some typical heathland carabid beetle and spider species that are missing in MONHEATH.