US EditionStudy Finds Plant Diversity Fell for Centuries After Black Death
Analysis of over 100 fossil pollen records shows plant diversity declined for 150 years after the Black Death despite forest spread, challenging assumptions about human impact on biodiversity.
- On March 5, 2026 the study published in Ecology Letters reported plant diversity across Europe fell for about 150 years after the Black Death, based on over 100 fossil pollen records.
- After the pandemic, abandonment of farms, villages and fields meant forests expanded and traditional low-intensity land management ceased, reducing habitat patchiness that supported plant diversity.
- Using sediment cores and pollen records, the team analysed over 100 fossil pollen records showing plant diversity rose from 0 BCE to post-Black Death centuries, peaking in the High Middle Ages before collapsing after the plague.
- The study argues that the rewilding movement should reconsider its approach because Jonathan Gordon urged a `patchwork approach`, stating, `To maintain the many different types of biodiversity that have been associated with European ecosystems over the last few millennia, we have to take a 'patchwork approach,' where we have a mosaic of crops, woodlands, pastures, ponds and lakes and so on, co-existing in the same landscape.`
- Looking beyond Europe, the authors note that multimillennial interactions show humans helped generate increasing biodiversity over the past 2,000 years, including examples like satoyama and ahupuaʻa.
9 Articles
9 Articles
The Black Death’s counterintuitive effect: as human numbers fell, so did plant diversity
Paul Nash/ShutterstockBetween 1347 and 1353, Europe was gripped by the most catastrophic pandemic in its history: the Black Death. Killing many millions, the plague wiped out between one-third and a half of Europe’s population. In some cities, mortality rates were as high as 80%. In rural areas, Black Death mortality caused intense labour shortages. Entire villages were left empty as rural economies collapsed. In many places, cultivated fields w…
Black Death 'rewilding' did not boost biodiversity, study suggests
The bubonic plague, which swept across Europe between 1347 and 1353, is estimated to have killed up to one half of the continent's population. The sudden loss of life led to the abandonment of farms, villages and fields, creating what researchers describe as a massive historical "rewilding" event. However, the devastation caused by the Black Death in medieval Europe may not have delivered the environmental benefits that could be assumed to follo…
What Stopped the Black Death From Spreading?
The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio’s Decameron by Luigi Sabatelli. Source: Wellcome Collection Many years before the world had modern medicine and clean hospitals, a debilitating plague spread across Europe. This was from the year 1347. The malady known as the Black Death caused millions of deaths during the first wave which lasted until 1351. According to many historical records, the germ is estimated to have killed bet…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 80% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
