Plant Native and watch your garden come alive
Small animals such as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish rely heavily on insects for a substantial part of their diet, and insects in turn depend on plants to convert the energy of the sun into edible food. Most insects have specialized relationships with specific plants, tolerating and even benefiting from the poisonous or nasty-tasting chemical defenses that plants have developed to avoid being consumed. It takes a specialized design for these insect-plant relationships to develop. An example of this is the monarch butterfly and milkweed. Monarch caterpillars have been created with the ability to digest poisonous milkweed leaves that other insects cannot eat, and monarch mothers only lay their eggs on milkweed species. Adaptation in nature takes time, so replacing native plants with introduced plants will not benefit the ecosystem. Introduced plant species contribute almost nothing to the food web. Replacing native plants with 40 million acres of turf nationwide has resulted in significant habitat loss in the last couple of centuries.
The good news is that restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. Even planting a small number of native plants can make a visible difference in the number and diversity of wildlife. Restoring native species to your property generates rapid results in terms of the number and diversity of wildlife you see. Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region in which they evolved, and they are the ecological basis upon which life depends, including birds and people. Research has shown that native oak trees support over 500 species of caterpillars, whereas ginkgos, a commonly planted landscape tree from Asia, host only five species of caterpillars. When it takes over 6,000 caterpillars to raise one brood of chickadees, that is a significant difference.
Unfortunately, most of the landscaping plants available in nurseries are alien species from other countries. These exotic plants not only sever the food web, but many have become invasive pests, outcompeting native species and degrading habitat in remaining natural areas. Landscaping choices have meaningful effects on the populations of birds and the insects they need to survive. Homeowners, landscapers, and local policymakers can benefit birds and other wildlife by simply selecting native plants when making their landscaping decisions. In addition to providing vital habitat for birds, many other species of wildlife benefit as well. Native plants provide nectar for pollinators including hummingbirds, native bees, butterflies, moths, and bats. They provide protective shelter for many mammals. The native nuts, seeds, and fruits produced by these plants offer essential foods for all forms of wildlife.
Native plants play a vital role in the ecosystem when it comes to wildlife species. The best habitat is one that is overly abundant in native vegetation. These plants are important to the native species that rely on them, especially birds. Native plants are an important factor in a bird’s overall lifestyle, influencing their diet, feeding habits, and even migration patterns. Due to habitat loss caused by human settlement, it is important to incorporate native plants into our own spaces so that birds and other wildlife species will still be able to find reliable food sources. Native plants are particular species of plants that have grown in a certain area naturally and were not introduced by humans. They provide food sources for wildlife and a sustainable and eco-friendly habitat that matches their growing requirements. Over the years, the vitality of native plants has been in danger. Due to factors such as fragmentation caused by urban sprawl, significant portions of land are being developed.
In conclusion, small animals rely heavily on insects, which in turn rely on plants. Most insects have specialized relationships with specific plants, and introduced plant species contribute almost nothing to the food web. Replacing native plants with introduced plants results in significant habitat loss. Restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity.
