Wood-pasture hypothesis

The wood-pasture hypothesis is a theory that suggests that many parts of Europe used to be covered in forests that had large areas of pasture within them. This was a long time ago when people used to keep livestock like cows, sheep, and goats to get milk and meat.

Imagine a big forest with lots of tall trees that were difficult for animals to walk through. However, the trees were spread apart in some areas and there were patches of grass on the ground where animals liked to eat. The animals would move around, eating the grass and fertilizing the soil. In some places, people would remove some trees to create more space for their animals and crops.

Over time, as people continued to cut down trees and clear more land for their animals and crops, the forests became smaller and smaller. They eventually became the grassy fields that we often see in farmland nowadays. Some areas still have patches of trees and pasture that show what these forests would have looked like.

So, the wood-pasture hypothesis suggests that the European landscape used to be more diverse with forest and pasture intertwined, but has changed over time due to human activities.