When the Black Death killed half of Europe in the 1340s, ecologists expected the land to bloom; instead, plant diversity plummeted for 150 years until farming returned

In the 1300s, a plague emptied many of Europe’s farms. Scientists were surprised at what grew back.

It might seem like a win for nature: a pandemic that wiped out huge chunks of Europe’s population in just six years. Abandoned villages, untended fields, woods reclaiming former farmland. That must have left room for plants and wildlife to thrive, right?