not sure if Ur-ian is the right adjective, but the matter of biodiversity is something i've been pondering on for a while now, way before the recent developments in the natural resource industry and beautiful balanced world camps. not what i want to talk about, but it is a good context for why it's important.
trees growing in specific areas is still a relatively new feature of the world, and it feels like it could stand for some balancing. as the original tree killing incident highlighted, gas plants in particular have been under-represented, as they have so far mostly grown in areas with few patches. and although groddle meadows is beautifully illustrated, the fact that only cherries and bean trees grow in the region makes the scenery woefully dreary!
there have some great ideas lately about alternative earth sources and types of patches that could help keep things interesting.
varying tree art would help so as to avoid the 'row of identical bean trees' syndrome, as would getting the tree lifecycle properly balanced, although this is likely a more long-term project for the devs.
should there be more kinds of trees? or fewer trees in general?
anyway, i realize that the biodiversity situation is likely more a symptom of what stoot mentioned in another thread, that the devs have only recently gotten the underlying technology platform and toolset of the game in order. but i would still be interested to hear your thoughts. :)