Biodiversity benefits the soil food web, improves rainfall infiltration and nutrient cycling, and reduces diseases and pests.
Our native soils evolved, were built over geological time, and received carbon exudates (food) from polycultures: diverse perennial plants harvesting sunlight and carbon dioxide. Human settlement and agriculture drastically changed this picture. Our soils now often receive carbon exudates from a far less diverse landscape or even from monocultures: just one annual plant at a time. This limits soil fertility and reduces habitat for many living organisms.
We can improve our rangelands and pastures by mimicking original plant communities. There are many ways to do this, such as growing diverse crops and using crop rotations and cover crops.
