A bird's eye view of farm size and biodiversity: The ecological legacy of the iron curtain
利用前德国内部边界的自然实验，研究发现农场规模扩大导致鸟类多样性下降15%，主要原因是土地覆盖简化而非土地利用集约化。
Abstract Agriculture is a major threat to global biodiversity. A common claim is that large‐scale agro‐industrial farming is mainly responsible for the biodiversity decline, while smaller family farms are more wildlife friendly. Here we leverage a natural experiment along the former inner German border to estimate the causal impact of farm size on biodiversity. We combine land cover data with bird diversity data to establish the mechanisms through which farm size affects bird diversity. Our main results show that the increase in farm size at the former inner German border reduces bird diversity by 15%. The results suggest further that the decline is the result of land cover simplification rather than land use intensification.