Researchers at the University of Bonn, led by Marco Ferro and Dr. Jan Börner from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR), studied how the variety of landscapes affects the ability of grasslands to withstand drought. This research, part of the Collaborative Research Center 1502 DETECT, was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. The team examined how agricultural landscapes respond to extreme droughts, focusing on the role of crop diversity and the presence of green infrastructure, such as small trees and orchards, in enhancing drought resistance. The study compared agricultural landscapes in eastern and western Germany. In the east, land use has become more uniform due to agricultural restructuring after 1945, resulting in large farms and large, contiguous areas used in similar ways. In contrast, western Germany features smaller farms with more varied land use. The researchers found that the uniformity of land use in eastern Germany led to a greater loss of functional green spaces during droughts, which in turn reduced plant biomass. This is partly because landscapes with less diversity are less effective at storing water during dry periods. To understand how droughts impact green spaces, the researchers used satellite and remote sensing data. They applied a method that helps distinguish between cause and effect, allowing them to determine whether uniform landscape structures directly cause more green spaces to become unproductive during droughts. They also used a model to simulate plant growth under different conditions, estimating how much biomass could be lost due to drought in less diverse landscapes. A major challenge was identifying the direct impact of landscape diversity on drought resilience. The researchers had to precisely understand the underlying processes and translate this into a mathematical model. They aimed to isolate the influence of landscape structure while considering other factors that might affect drought impacts. The study highlights that increasing landscape diversity can improve ecosystem function, enhance farm resilience to extreme events, and help maintain agricultural yields. The researchers suggest that more diverse land use can better prepare landscapes for extreme weather like droughts. While the study provides valuable insights, several questions remain. For instance, it is unclear whether the disadvantages of large, less diverse farms during droughts can be balanced by their efficiency in normal years. As droughts and heatwaves become more frequent, understanding these trade-offs is increasingly important. Future research could explore which specific landscape features best support drought resilience, helping to guide more sustainable agricultural practices in the face of climate change.