Land-use changes have a profound impact on species diversity and distribution. Although soil fauna contribute substantially to global biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, the responses of soil fauna to land-use changes at the regional scale remain poorly understood. Non-native Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust, BL) has been widely planted on abandoned cropland to control soil erosion on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Here, we investigated the effects of BL plantations (<15 years, 15–25 years, >25 years) on the abundance, richness and community composition of soil macroinvertebrates at six sites along a 500-km transect across the CLP. Overall, the mean abundance and richness of macroinvertebrates were greater in the BL plots than in the control plots, regardless of the plantation age. These differences were mainly attributed to the changes in the abundance and richness of predators and phytophages but not of detritivores and omnivores. We also found that the abundance and richness of overall macroinvertebrates decreased with latitude in the BL plots, while no latitudinal trend was found in the control plots, which led to a decrease in the afforestation-induced positive effect with latitude. Additionally, the community composition of macroinvertebrates was similar between the control and BL plots but significantly varied with latitude, which was explained by climate factors and geographic distance. The results indicated that the positive effects of BL afforestation on macroinvertebrate diversity depend on functional groups and the community composition at a large spatial scale was shaped by climate factors and geographic distance rather than BL afforestation. If afforestation has biodiversity objectives, then BL afforestation is more suitable in the south than in the north of the CLP because of the decrease in afforestation-induced positive effects with latitude.

土地利用的变化对物种的多样性和分布产生了深远的影响。尽管土壤动物群对全球生物多样性和生态系统功能做出了重大贡献，但对于区域区域土壤动物群对土地利用变化的反应仍然知之甚少。非本地刺槐（刺槐，BL）已广泛种植在荒芜的农田上，以控制黄土高原（CLP）的土壤侵蚀。在这里，我们调查了整个CLP中沿500公里断面的6个地点的BL人工林（<15年，15–25年，> 25年）对土壤大型无脊椎动物的丰富度，丰富度和群落组成的影响。总体而言，BL样地中大型无脊椎动物的平均丰度和富裕度均高于对照样地，而与人工林年龄无关。这些差异主要归因于捕食者和噬菌体的丰富度和丰富度的变化，而不是有害生物和杂食动物的变化。我们还发现，在BL样地中，整个大型无脊椎动物的丰富度和丰富度随纬度降低，而在对照样地中未发现纬度趋势，从而降低了造林对纬度的积极影响。此外，对照和BL样地的大型无脊椎动物群落组成相似，但随纬度变化很大，这可以由气候因素和地理距离来解释。结果表明，BL造林对大型无脊椎动物多样性的积极影响取决于功能群体，在较大的空间尺度上，群落组成是由气候因素和地理距离决定的，而不是BL造林。如果造林以生物多样性为目标，那么BLLP造林在CLP的南部比在CLP的北部更适合，因为造林对纬度的积极影响减少了。对照和BL样地的大型无脊椎动物群落组成相似，但随纬度变化很大，这可以由气候因素和地理距离来解释。结果表明，BL造林对大型无脊椎动物多样性的积极影响取决于功能群体，在较大的空间尺度上，群落组成是由气候因素和地理距离决定的，而不是BL造林。如果造林以生物多样性为目标，那么BLLP造林在CLP的南部比在CLP的北部更适合，因为造林对纬度的积极影响减少了。对照和BL样地的大型无脊椎动物群落组成相似，但随纬度变化很大，这可以由气候因素和地理距离来解释。结果表明，BL造林对大型无脊椎动物多样性的积极影响取决于功能群体，在较大的空间尺度上，群落组成是由气候因素和地理距离决定的，而不是BL造林。如果造林以生物多样性为目标，那么BLLP造林在CLP的南部比在CLP的北部更适合，因为造林对纬度的积极影响减少了。结果表明，BL造林对大型无脊椎动物多样性的积极影响取决于功能群体，在较大的空间尺度上，群落组成是由气候因素和地理距离决定的，而不是BL造林。如果造林以生物多样性为目标，那么BLLP造林在CLP的南部比在CLP的北部更适合，因为造林对纬度的积极影响减少了。结果表明，BL造林对大型无脊椎动物多样性的积极影响取决于功能群体，在较大的空间尺度上，群落组成是由气候因素和地理距离决定的，而不是BL造林。如果造林以生物多样性为目标，那么BLLP造林在CLP的南部比在CLP的北部更适合，因为造林对纬度的积极影响减少了。