ETH Zurich: Biodiversity pays off
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich claim to have found that hay from meadows with high biodiversity is more productive than hay from meadows with monoculture. In addition, biodiversity protects better against failures in drought or flood years.
A group of researchers in agricultural sciences, ecology and economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and other universities has been studying the economics of biodiversity in grasslands, ETH informs in a Communication.
"Biodiversity is often considered not profitable, but we show: yet, it can be profitable," Nina Buchmann, professor of grassland science at ETH, is quoted as saying there.
Biodiversity is also a kind of risk insurance
Specifically, the researchers published in the scientific journal Nature Communications published Research by the interdisciplinary group of scientists shows that the yield of hay from a meadow with 16 plant species is higher than hay from a meadow with only one plant species. This can also increase income in the dairy industry, the release explains. "This increase in revenue is comparable to the difference in yields between extensively and intensively used meadows," study first author and ETH doctoral student Sergei Schaub is quoted as saying there.
In the release, the researchers also highlight another benefit of biodiversity. "Biodiversity is also a kind of risk insurance," Buchmann says. Because plant species react differently to environmental phenomena such as drought or flooding, the individual species can partially compensate for corresponding crop losses. "Yields become more stable over time," Buchmann explains.
