Mass extinction thought to be underway

[blazing star]

Hi All,

I attended a conference over the weekend, Wild Things Conference in Chicago. The keynote speaker was Doug Tallamy. He works with butterflies and wrote a book "Bringing Nature Home". He's espousing that the planting of exotic landscape plants is driving insects to extinction. His point is that the chemical composition of exotic plants is far different from what our native insects have evolved to require and that, in the absence of their host plant, they'll starve rather than eat an exotic plant. Often times, insects have evolved to be plant specialists desiring only one type of plant for reproduction (such is the case with Monarchs).

Oak trees, as an example, support 534 species of lepidoptera while the most commonly planted landscape tree is the exotic Norway Maple which isn't a useful host plant and is also invasive/weedy in areas.

He sites that we all have to do a better job planting "productive" plants in our yards (which are usually comprised of plants native to one's area).

There are still surveys underway to determine plant productivity, but here's his current list of woody plants ranked by ability to support the number of lepidoptera species noted:

Oaks = 534
Willow = 456
Cherry, plum = 456
Birch = 413
Poplar, Cottonwood = 368
Crabapple = 311
Blueberry, cranberry = 288
Maple, box elder = 285
Elm = 213
Pine = 203
Hickory = 200
Hawthorn = 159
Alder = 156
Spruce = 156
Ash = 150
Basswood, linden = 150
Filbert, hazelnut = 131
Walnut, butternut = 130
Beech = 126
Chestnut = 125

Insects pollinate our food and they are a key link in the food chain. Birds almost exclusively feed caterpillars to their young. And so on up goes the food chain.

Here is a link where you can search a plant's native range and it's status (endangered, etc.). http://plants.usda.gov/java/

I hope you all are motivated to replace some of your exotic plantings with plants native to your area and, as Doug says, that you focus on plant selections that are "productive". As he signed my book, "Garden as if life depended on it".

[Robert61]

Very useful information...thanks! Robert at Monarch Waystation No. 613 in NW OHIO. Here's a YouTube video I made. Enjoy!
http://wildlifefriendlylawn.blogspot.co ... -yard.html