This is the conclusion reached by an international research team led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, which analysed studies from Europe, Asia, North and South America. According to the study, numerous wild animal and plant species in agricultural fields benefit from a diverse environment.

The findings are based on a global meta-analysis in which the researchers compiled and analysed 122 scientific studies. Data on the species richness of wild animals and plants on around 6,400 agricultural areas and the landscaping in their surroundings within a radius of up to four kilometres were included. Different crops such as cereals, rapeseed and vegetables, on the one hand, and semi-natural areas such as flowering areas, field margins, bushes and trees, on the other, contributed to a varied agricultural landscape - as well as their arrangement, such as field size and layout. The landscape effect was found in temperate and tropical/subtropical climate zones and for annual and perennial crops.

The study, in which Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) was also involved, shows on a global level that diverse crop populations and landscapes contribute to the protection of biodiversity and thus also to sustainable agriculture. It has been published in the journal Ecology Letters.