Monoculture is the case where a large number of users run the same software, and are vulnerable to the same attacks.
Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop, plant, or livestock species, variety, or breed in a field or farming system at a time. Polyculture, where more than one crop species is grown in the same space at the same time, is the alternative to monoculture. Monoculture is widely used both in industrial farming and in organic farming. It has allowed farmers to increase efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting but it can also increase the risk of diseases or pest outbreaks.
Continuous monoculture, or monocropping, where farmers raise the same species year after year, can lead to the quicker buildup of pests and diseases, and then their rapid spread where a uniform crop is susceptible to a pathogen. Monocultures of perennials, such as African palm oil, sugar cane, and pines, can lead to environmental problems. Diversity can be added both in time, as with a crop rotation or sequence, or in space, with a polyculture.
The term "oligoculture" has been used to describe a crop rotation of just a few crops, as practiced in several regions of the world.
The concept of monoculture can also extend to (for example) discussions of variety in urban landscapes.
