PubMed · 2026-05-14
A study of 463 adults in rural eastern Germany found that most people could name only 2 plant and 3 bird species typical of their local farmland, despite living surrounded by agricultural landscapes. Younger adults knew even fewer species, with farmland-specialist plants like Cornflower and Chamomile nearly invisible to those under 45.
On average, participants named only 2 plant and 3 bird species out of 62 plant and 25 bird farmland indicator species known to occur in the region — less than 5% coverage.
Farmland specialist plants (Cornflower, Chamomile, Yarrow) and birds (Starling, Skylark) were significantly more salient among adults over 45, while younger adults defaulted to generalists like Dandelion and Stinging Nettle.
Only 15 plant and 21 bird taxa formed the shared cultural knowledge ('cultural domain') of local farmland species across all 463 participants, indicating a narrow collective baseline.
