Bringing Nature Home

– By Kristina Bicher –

What’s the difference between planting a Bradford pear or Kousa dogwood in your front yard and a large plastic palm tree? To a Viceroy butterfly or a Luna moth, it’s all the same. Since over 90% of all insects can only feed on very specific plants, nonnative “ornamentals” are exactly that.

So says Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor and Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. Through extensive research over his 28-year career, Tallamy has confirmed that there is "an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife. When native plant species disappear, or are replaced by alien exotics, the insects disappear, thus impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals.”

Dr. Tallamy shared these insights and more during a fascinating lecture March 3, sponsored by the Rye Garden Club and open to the public. These topics are examined in his latest book, “Bring Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens”, published in 2007.

Using native plants is not just being “environmentally correct” or trying to recapture some lost ancient landscape, says Tallamy.

Most people understand that people need plants in order to survive: they provide oxygen, filter our water and air, stabilize our soil and take up carbon. All plants can do this. But only native plants share an evolutionary history with our local insects and thus become a part of the “food web” which ultimately includes human life.

As America has moved away from a rural-based society over the last two hundred years, our forested land has been increasingly developed and animals’ natural habitats have become fragmented. When natural areas are too small, animal species lose their critical mass and become vulnerable to predators and disease and ultimately extinction. Many in the scientific community are worried about rising extinction rates among such groups as amphibians and birds which rely on insects for food.

Fortunately, there is still time to reverse this alarming trend, according to Tallamy, and individuals have the power to make a significant contribution. His first recommendation is to cut your lawn space in half, since lawns are essentially sterile in terms of the food web and require a great deal of time and resources to maintain. He suggests that when you do need to plant new trees or shrubs, think about natives first.

For information on native plants in our area, contact the Westchester Community College Native Plant Center at www.nativeplantcenter.org. They will be hosting a native plant sale Saturday, April 25.