Native plants support more native pollinators, many of which are in decline, but are incredibly important. In particular, many species of native plants serve as larval hosts for native insect species, such as butterflies, which can increase the local diversity of pollinator communities.
On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:02 AM, Peter Beck <[email protected]> wrote: > Also especially important for landscaping purposes, because native plants > have adapted to the local soils and climate, they require less water, > fertilizers, pesticides as well as less pruning and maintenance generally. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ted Turluck" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 9:16:47 AM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Arguments for Native Plants > > Hello List Members, > > I am working with native plants and would like to make sure I have all the > arguments for native plants correct. If I am missing some, please let me > know. My goal is to promote native plants for use in landscaping and > grazing. > > Native plants provide habitat and food for native wildlife. This is > particularly important with increasing urban development and the habitat > loss that goes along with development. > > Native plants make up a large part of the ecological heritage of an area. > They made up the environment in which the first settlers lived and the > resources they used. > > Native plants are less likely to become invasive because the herbivores, > parasites, and pathogens they evolved with are still present. > > That is all I have at the moment. Please let me know what other arguments I > need to add or how I can strengthen the ones I already have. > > Thanks! > -- > Ted Turluck > -- Todd Ontl PhD candidate Landscape Ecology and Sustainable Ecosystem Modeling Lab Natural Resource Ecology and Management Iowa State University Ames, IA 50010 USA Phone: 515-294-2957 www.nrem.iastate.edu/landscape/people.html
