This contributes to their survival
An interesting discovery was made by scientists from an international consortium that conducted a study of 150 European meadows and pastures. Scientists from eight countries have come to the conclusion that the more intensively people develop herbaceous ecosystems, the more often the fauna in such systems is represented by relatively small and energetic animals
As reported on the website of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after A.N. Severtsov RAS, who represented Russia in the consortium, managed to prove this thanks to large-scale scientific work. Experts examined plants, bats, birds, flying and other terrestrial and soil invertebrates. They measured them according to a variety of parameters (length, weight, mobility, speed and type of reproduction, respiration rate). And they came to the conclusion that in those ecosystems in which humans interfered less (that is, where undisturbed communities continue to exist), animals are larger, less mobile, reproduce more slowly, and have other physiological manifestations, compared to their neighbors with territories more developed by people, things are not very good.
And vice versa — In intensively used meadows and pastures live more slender (with reduced biomass), but at the same time much more energetic representatives of the fauna, which react faster to stimuli, run better, fly or crawl (depending on the species), and also reproduce. This allows them to survive and resist complete degradation in their rapidly changing world.
Thus, scientists have come to a paradoxical conclusion: anthropogenic impact on ecosystems can contribute to the preservation of these ecosystems.