Effects of agroforestry practices on insect abundance, richness, and diversity, in transformed ecosystems of the semi-arid area, Dodoma, Tanzania

This study investigated insect diversity and abundance to understand how agroforestry impacts biodiversity in transformed semi-arid ecosystems. Insects were collected using pitfall traps across areas with only trees (afforested), areas practicing agroforestry (agroforestry), areas with few remaining shrubs (shrubland), and untouched bushy areas (bushland). A total of 2,889 insects were collected. Shrubland had the lowest insect abundance but the highest diversity, while afforested land showed the highest abundance. Despite differences in diversity and richness, statistical tests revealed no significant variation among sites. Agroforestry had lower species diversity and richness compared to shrublands. Evenness was higher in bushland than in agroforestry and shrubland. These results suggest that agroforestry supports more insects but fewer species, possibly due to management practices and the type of trees integrated, which might favor specialist species. Further research is needed to understand how age and agroforestry components influence insect diversity in semi-arid regions.