A recent study led by Zi-Hua Zhao, Ph.D., at the China Agricultural University examined how plant species richness in farm fields affects the insect community. In experimental plots with a mix of crops growing simultaneously, Zhao and colleagues found that more species of plants in a plot correlated with more species of insects found there. Additionally, the ratio of natural enemies to pests increased with the number of plant species in the plot. (Photo credit: Zi-Hua Zhao, Ph.D.)