Lukas VFN 🇪🇺<p>Europe's forest <a href="https://scholar.social/tags/plants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>plants</span></a> thrive best in light-rich, semi-open <a href="https://scholar.social/tags/woodlands" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>woodlands</span></a> kept open by large herbivores <a href="https://phys.org/news/2025-05-europe-forest-rich-semi-woodlands.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">phys.org/news/2025-05-europe-f</span><span class="invisible">orest-rich-semi-woodlands.html</span></a> paper: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-01981-3" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nature.com/articles/s41477-025</span><span class="invisible">-01981-3</span></a></p><p>"Before Homo sapiens arrived, Europe's <a href="https://scholar.social/tags/forests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>forests</span></a> were not dense and dark but shaped by open and light-rich woodland landscapes. A new study shows that most native forest plants are adapted to semi-open, light-filled woodlands—formed over millions of years by the influence of large, free-ranging herbivores such as bison, elk, and wild horses"</p>