Science Sunday

I'm really glad that science has finally produced a study that supports the andedotal evidence that all of us have seen in our daily lives, if we have have been paying attention. Where I live, the main approach that the professional foresters have taken is one of poplar (popple) farming, to benefit the logging industry. I'm certainly not against loggers, I used to work in the woods myself, although my employer might balk at the word "work" - "let's quit, I quit" - was my mantra at the time, but this idea that the government owes these loggers a living is, well, out-of-date. Diversity is a good in all ways, whether it be plant species, rock species, animal species, yes, I include non-white people as well. People, not just environmentalists, have been warning of the potential disastrous effects of monoculture for a long time. The evidence is now in, monoculture is a bad method, a bad idea. What the agricultural interests have managed to do is continue to invent & use pesticides & herbicides to put off the devastation that will come with the continuation of monoculture, particularly in the Great Plains.

Biodiversity of global ecosystems has decreased as global population has increased, said Tilman, because diverse ecosystems such as forests and prairies have been cleared to make way for agricultural fields, buildings and roads.

The research shows that ecosystems containing many different plant species are more productive than those containing only one species. A return to biodiversity may prove to be the key, Tilman and his colleagues believe, to meeting energy needs for the growing number of people on the planet and for restoring global ecosystems.

"Diverse prairie grasslands are 240 percent more productive than grasslands with a single prairie species," Tilman said. "That's a huge advantage. Biomass from diverse prairies can, for example, be used to make biofuels without the need for annual tilling, fertilizers and pesticides, which require energy and pollute the environment. Because they are perennials, you can plant a prairie once and mow it for biomass every fall, essentially forever," Tilman said.