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Monday, April 18, 2016

Outline- Perspectives About Non- Native plants

The following is the outline for the talk I gave on April 18, 2016 to the Lapeer Horticulture Society

Poor perspectives about non-native plants
Dames Rocket

One can repair an ecosystem to its original state by removing or preventing non-natives and planting only natives.

What’s original?  100 years,  500 years?  Disregards human influence, changes to soil, weather air quality  People have moved plants into the area since the land bridge.  Native americans imported crops from South and central America.  Change is constant in nature and one cannot re-create the past effectively

Native plants have evolved to be the best plants for a particular environment.

In any area evolution can only work with the species it has.  Without competition or stresses evolution is slower.  But evolution can work pretty fast too. When a better suited plant that evolved somewhere else gets introduced nature may make it the “queen”.  Nature likes success.   Often non-natives enhance environments and lead to more species coming to an area and diversity is always preferable

Non-native plants always cause the extinction of other species.

With the exception of islands and inland lakes, non-native plants do not cause extinction on their own.  In a few cases they may hasten extinction if changing environment is occurring.   Elimination of a species from a limited area doesn’t mean extinction of the species.  Animals, particularly insects are a different story.

Non-native plants disrupt the ecology and are bad for other species of plants and animals.

Its change, not disruption.  Many times non-natives enhance ecologies, in many cases there’s no effect.  Minor adjustments may need to be made.  Time usually makes things work out. Animals learn to utilize new food and shelter sources.

Pollinators prefer native plants and must have them to survive.

There are a few specialists, but native pollinators adjust to new sources of food easily. They will drink from human feeders, why not new flowers?  Even larvae food sources change.  Many butterflies/moths use non-native plants to lay on.  Many pollinators we are worried about are non-native themselves.   Should we get rid of honey bees? 

One should always remove non-native plants growing in the wild.

It’s not necessary to remove most non-natives.  Maybe  a few for health and safety.  Nature will sort it out.  There are judgement calls usually based on preference of humans.  We have the right and would be expected to by nature to defend ourselves from harm.  Man and other species both develop poisons to aid species survival.  But is losing oak trees or ash trees going to harm us?   

We should only plant native plants, they are always better for the environment.

That’s just not true. Some non-native plants complement the existing ecology.  When we talk about gardens especially, you should plant the best plant for the spot.  Gardens are not natural environments-humans change the whole equation. Pollinators love non-native plants, buddleia, petunias, various mints, autumn olive, dames rocket.  If you plant a garden of any species, you’ll help other species exist
People are always the cause for bringing non-natives into the environment.

We spend millions of dollars controlling non-native plants, therefore they are a threat.

We do spend millions but usually we are taking sides in a war- protecting one non-native over another.  Crop weeds, lawn pests- don’t these species and our use of them cause considerable damage to the environment?  Are we on the right side?  It’s like saying it cost us millions of dollars to conquer the first people, and that’s why they were a threat.  If we bring in a species for our own use and then have to battle native and non-native species with toxic chemicals and GMO should we then use that cost against non-natives?  Can our money be spent in better ways? 

Most non-native damage outside of lawn, garden and ag use is negligible, overestimated and anecdotal.  Japanese knotweed  doesn’t cause any more damage than trumpet vine.  Native species cause as much if not more damage, both in and out of gardens - it’s all perception.

Besides- non-native control is a big business from invasive biology students/workers/teachers/ researchers  to chemical companies like Monsanto and control companies like True green and Orkin the invasive/non-native war supports thousands of people, brings billions into the economy
Should we off set expenses for true needed controls against income generated?

In conclusion

Some non-native- and native species need to be controlled for the safety of our species.  Every species has the right to protect itself.  IE mosquitoes, dangerous diseases, In other cases we just don’t like the change or don’t want to see the loss of a species so we interfere with nature.   Those are the things we need to be more objective and less reactive about.  Nature has the remarkable ability to heal itself even from dramatic abuses such as Chernobyl.  We can’t predict the changes.  Nature creates new, novel ecosystems by re-arranging species.

If you want to create a Japanese garden in Michigan, its fine.  An English cottage garden- fine.  Plant trees and shrubs and flowers, all are better than planting nothing.  Don’t do anything illegal.  Try not to let non-native plants invade wild areas.  If you want to volunteer to pull dames rocket or autumn olive or garlic mustard fine but realize you are choosing one species over another, not helping nature.

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Better perspectives on non-native plants
Purple Loosestrife

Nature doesn’t recognize invasive plants, only successful ones.  She welcomes diversity and change.

Using the term “Invasive plants” is wrong -native plants can be as invasive and as economically devastating as non-natives.  Example- Trumpet vine vs Japanese knotweed. 

Using only native plants in your garden is the same as only using red flowering plants, or succulents , or herbs.  It’s a form of human selection of plants called gardening.

The best plant to plant is one that’s right for the conditions and right for the use you have in mind for it.

A garden should bring all sorts of cultures and types into peaceful harmony; it is the art of graceful assimilation.

There is little relationship between the amount of native flora in a garden or ecosystem and the animal life it supports.  The more diverse the ecosystem the more resilient and productive it is.

Those who advocate the elimination of   “invasive plants” often advocate bull dozers, chain saws and pesticides/ poisons to eliminate them – which is worse for our environment?

Multiflora rose
Non-native plants are often the plants we are trying to protect from other non-natives.  Examples- our crop plants, lawn grasses.   Some of those plants have harmed the natural ecology of the country far more than garden escapees and non-native weeds.   Why should humans determine which species is better than another?

Suggested Reading

Jay Gould examines the native plant concept

Native plant enthusiasm- ecological panacea or xenophobia?

Weed Whackers, Monsanto, glyphosate, and the war on invasive species

Non-native plants that  are great for pollinators

The true story of Kudzu, the vine that never ate the south
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/true-story-kudzu-vine-ate-south-180956325/

British Ecological Society (BES). "Native plants alone may not be the best option for pollinating insects in UK gardens." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 August 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150811092048.htm.

University of York. "Non-native plants are 'not a threat' to floral diversity." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 March 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150323150617.htm

American Journal of Botany. "Are invasive plants a threat to native biodiversity? It depends on the spatial scale." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 April 2011. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163917.htm.

Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature-  William Cronon

Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience,- David Theodoropoulos,

The New Wild: Why invasive species will be nature's salvation, Fred Pearce

 An Evolutionary Perspective on Strengths, Fallacies, and Confusions in the Concept of Native Plants, Stephen jay Gould,

Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order by Richard J. Hobbs , Eric S. Higgs , Carol Hall


Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know - Daniel  Simberloff

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