Intensification of land use leads to the same species everywhere

An example of why over-population is a problem even if we have totally clean energy.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/tuom-iol112916.php

Public Release: 30-Nov-2016
Intensification of land use leads to the same species everywhere
Study in Nature documents the homogenization of species communities in our landscape
Technical University of Munich (TUM)

In places where humans use grasslands more intensively, it is not only the species diversity which decreases -- the landscape also becomes more monotonous, and ultimately only the same species remain everywhere. This results in nature no longer being able to provide its 'services', which range from soil formation for food production to pest control. Led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), 300 scientists studied the consequences of land-use intensification across different species groups at the landscape level for the very first time.

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The findings showed that it did not matter whether grassland areas were used moderately or intensively by humans. For example, a distinction was made between areas where grass was cut twice or four times a year. "According to our observations, the homogenization of species does not progress proportionally to the intensity of use. Instead, even a moderate management of grassland results in cross-regional communities being reduced to the same, less demanding all-rounders," said Gossner -- "a further increase in the intensity of use simply doesn't have a comparably large effect."

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