What effect did scientific forestry have on forest diversity?

Correct answer: In many places diversity decreased

Direct answer: Option A, diversity decreased in many places. Scientific forestry was a colonial method that tried to manage forests for regular supplies of useful timber. Officials often selected one commercially valuable tree and planted it over a large area. This single-species planting is called monoculture. A natural forest usually has many kinds of trees, shrubs, grasses, climbers, animals, birds, and insects. When one species replaces this mixture, habitats and food sources become fewer, so biodiversity falls. Option A is correct because monoculture reduced the variety of plants and living organisms in many managed forests. Option B is wrong because scientific forestry did not make every forest more diverse; it commonly made forests more uniform. Option C is unrelated and is geographically impossible in this context. Option D is wrong because forest laws were introduced or strengthened to control forests; they did not end. Memory cue: scientific forestry often meant useful timber plus uniform plantations, so remember “one tree, less variety.”