University of Delaware Wildlife and Ecology Department Chair, Doug Tallamy, Ph.D., completes research and articles supporting the promotion of native plants to preserve Biodiversity in the U.S. to reverse extinction rates.

Read an Amercian Forests Article regarding Dr. Tallamy's findings HERE. Contact Timber Press or a bookseller to order his book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife and read this fascinating book that succinctly outlines what every American Citizen should know about the differences between exotic and native plants. With as many as 33,000 species imperiled in the U.S., it is clear that we must change our approach to landscaping if we hope to create homes and food for our local biodiversity. Native plants will play a key role in the restoration of our living spaces because only natives provide the coevolved relationships required by animals. By supporting a diversity of insect herbivores, native plants provide food for a large and healthy community of natural enemies that keep herbivores in balance and our gardens aesthetically pleasing. Read the book and you will learn:
Why we need biodiversity;
Why we need to change landscaping paradigms to save biodiversity;
Why animal diversity depends on native plants;
What a sustainable suburban ecosystem might look like. Read a book review by Ron Houser by clicking HERE

Summary of a few of Dr. Tallamy's points:

1. In healthy ecosystems, there is a lot of redundancy; niches and positions in the food web are covered by more than one species or organism. However, with the lower biodiversity of most of our suburbs and developed areas, the redundancy is lost; when one species or niche disappears, the whole food web crashes.

2. Where there is more plant diversity there is more bird and animal diversity. Biodiversity is an essential, non-renewable resource.

3. There is such a thing as "functional extinction" when population numbers of a particular plant/animal in an area get so low that they are not able to perform their function in the food web/ecosystem. If one were to claim that because there are no documented examples of extinctions due to nonnative invasives, that claim would be not only largely irrelevant, but also wrong (Tallamy says that there are, indeed such examples on islands).

4. Only native plants are part of the food web. He defines "native" as being an organism that shares an evolutionary history with the species in a given area. For example, many caterpillars can only survive and reproduce in the presence of three or fewer plant types! That's because those caterpillars have co-evolved in the presence of a specific plant to be able to digest its leaves despite the defensive toxins that the plant has developed to protect itself!

5. When we buy and plant non-natives, we are depriving wildlife of food; a "pest-resistant" plant is a food-free plant. For example, the "butterfly bush" only supports ONE species of butterfly. Sure, more species feed on the nectar, but when it comes time to reproduce and make more butterflies, the butterfly bush is virtually useless. Oaks, on the other hand, support over 500 species of butterflies.

6. Moving up the food chain, this matters because birds need insects (incl. caterpillars) to feed their young. They cannot raise their nestlings on seeds and nectar. The protein in insects
is very high quality and absolutely essential for baby birds. So, says Tallamy, without (native) insect host plants, "we feed the birds all winter and then starve them in the summer."

7. In general, woody plants support far more biodiversity than herbaceous plants. But both are necessary for habitat. 8. Regarding nonnative invasives: Japanese honeysuckle, for example, was used in landscaping for 80 years before it started to become invasive. It's not known how/why that happened, but it means that we can't know in advance if something will eventually cause problems.

8. Finally, in answering a last-minute question, Tallamy confirmed that the notion of "keystone" species is of only limited usefulness in protecting habitat/food webs. "Anything can be a keystone species in the right circumstances." In an hour-long presentation, he gave us more information (and ammunition, frankly) than we could really take in. The room was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop. He ended with several slides about how we need to take these messages to our suburban environments and turn them back into places that we share with nature and wildlife. A suggestion was to take 50 percent of the lawn acreage of every yard and plant it with natives (and do a good job if possible; leaf litter, variety of plants, habitat elements, etc). Connect the yards with hedgerows and contiguous planted areas. It won't obviate the habitat fragmentation/edge impacts, but it could be a huge improvement over what we have now. And conserve a heck of a lot of water in the bargain. And provide living outdoor spaces for us and future generations.

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Douglas Tallamy, Ph.D., who wrote the book published in 2007, Bringing Nature Home, has co-authored a paper published in Conservation Biology which describes a study which examined six suburban sites in Pennsylvania. They were similar in size; total plant cover; number of plant species; presence of bird boxes, feeders, baths/water sources, and surrounding characteristics.

The only difference between paired sites was that one was landscaped entirely with native tree canopy and plants, while the other was a more typical suburban mix of native canopy and non-native shrubs and groundcovers.

The results were profound:

· The all-native plant sites had four times more caterpillars (an extremely important source of food for birds, and the main source of food for nestlings)

· Birds were 54% more abundant in native sites.

· There were 66% more bird species in native sites.

· There were 77% more pairs of breeding birds in native sites (and 117% more native bird species on native sites)

Here's the bottom line:
By not planting native plants in our urban and suburban communities, we are reducing insect food availability for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Non-native plants--whether they are invasive or not--are indirectly reducing bird abundance even in landscaped suburban areas.

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Delaware's native plants make it possible for the state's 850,000 people to exist, says Douglas Tallamy, chairperson of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at UD.

Tallamy has been conducting research studies on the interaction between native plant species and native wildlife since 2000. And with every study, he is further convinced that healthy local ecosystems aren't just important for wildlife but for people.

“We invariably take plants and the benefits they provide for granted,” says Tallamy. “Who takes time to think that the oxygen in each breath we take has been produced exclusively by plants?”

Plants play the primary role in the food chain. “Most native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants,” says Tallamy. “When native plants disappear, so, too, do native insects. “A land without insects sounds like a gardener's dream; doesn't it?” notes Tallamy. “But a land without insects is a land without most higher forms of life.” With the rapid rate of development in Delaware and resulting habitat destruction, the pressures on native plants--and thus native species--has never been greater. Propped up near a window in Tallamy's office, next to a sweeping view of UD's Newark Farm, is a map of all current and proposed development projects in Delaware. At first glance, it appears that the only thing not under development is the farm right outside.

But Tallamy isn't ready to give up on the First State anytime soon. There is a way to sustain biodiversity in Delaware, he says. The heroes won't be the scientists who conduct research, the legislators who enact restrictions on development or the environmental groups who work to reduce habitat loss--as valuable as all these things are. Look in the mirror--you're looking at the potential hero of this story, says Tallamy. “Every Delawarean has the ability to affect change,” he says. “Every one of us has the power to make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity.”

Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens is the title of Tallamy's new book (released by Timber Press on Nov. 15), and it's also his credo on how we can all make a difference.

If you own a yard--even just a quarter acre--fill it with native plants and watch the wildlife come. If you rent, ask the landlord if you can plant a native tree, shrub or perennial in open space. Or volunteer to do so at a local park or with a community green space project. Think your small patch of greenery won't make a difference? Think again. Karin Burghardt, AG '07, conducted a one-year study of 12 home sites--six of which were planted exclusively with native plants; the other six with more traditional landscapes.

“The number of breeding birds and diversity of breeding birds, as well as the number and diversity of caterpillars, was large on the native-planted yards, but abysmally low on the other properties,” says Doug Tallamy is chairperson of the Department Of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at UD.

Each year, Tallamy gives more than 40 lectures on the link between native plant species and native wildlife, traveling to arboretums and horticultural organizations in Chicago, Virginia, Cleveland, Boston and, closer to home, Middletown and Dover. He brings something of a convert's zeal to his quest. That's because, back when he was an entomology grad student, he spent his weekends filling his relatives' yards with such species as Paulownia and burning bush, both now recognized as alien invasives.

“I took a course in woody landscape plants and found out about all these fascinating exotic plants,” says Tallamy. “Meanwhile, in my entomology courses, I was learning about plant-insect interactions. “All of the information I needed to realize that covering the land with alien plant species might not be such a good idea had been neatly placed in my lap in grad school, but it was 20 years before I made the connection: our native insects, and therefore our wildlife, will not be able to survive on alien plant species.” Yet those of us who try to plant natives exclusively know that the garden path is paved with good intentions. Nurseries specializing in natives are few and far between and the “big box” stores sell plants (mostly non-natives) dirt cheap. And during a dry summer like this past one, we may covet our neighbor's drought-tolerant (and invasive) butterfly bush while we struggle to keep our native Joe-Pye Weed alive for the butterflies.

“You can find a native for every situation--shade, full sun, dry sites, moist sites--you just need to educate yourself,” says Tallamy. “Joe-Pye Weed likes moist soil but the native butterfly weed, for example, does fine in dry conditions.”

And natives don't need to be expensive. To prove it, Tallamy whips out a photo of an 8-foot-tall white oak on the edge of his property. Seven years ago, this sturdy oak was an acorn that Tallamy dropped into the soil one warm day. Time spent? Two minutes. Cost? Not a penny.

For information about "Plants for a Livable Delaware," go to [http://ag.udel.edu/extension/horticulture/pdf/PLD.pdf].

Article by Margo McDonough

Photos by Danielle Quigley

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An Introduction of Doug Tallamy, Ph.D. by Jean Roche, Florida Native Plant Society

Doug Tallamy brings his passion for nature, his expertise and his vast knowledge to our own backyards. When I heard him speak, not quite three years ago, I was amazed by his incredible but simple solutions to help repair the damage being done by urban sprawl and over-development. He brings together the green industry, environmentalists and homeowners. He clearly shows us ways to maintain the environment develop habitats, provide food sources and breeding areas for all our local biodiversity. It is clear that we must change our approach to landscaping and that native plants will play a key role in the restoration of our living spaces. Only natives provide the co-evolved relationships required by insects and animals.

Doug Tallamy is Professor and Chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, where he has authored over 68 research articles and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, and other courses for 27 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His new book “Bringing Nature Home; How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens” was published by Timber Press in 2007.

After hearing him speak, I bought multiple copies of his book to share with family and friends. His message is just that IMPORTANT !

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Commentary by FNPS Pinellas Chapter President:

With regards to "the benefits of native plants are not proven," I invite you all to look at Douglas Tallamy's new book "Bringing Nature Home." Tallamy is an entymologist and a wildlife ecologist at the University of Delaware and makes a very strong case for the importance of native plant species in the food web. He is clear that unless we stop the trend of planting exotic species in our residential developments, the future of biodiversity in this country is not bright. One of his main points is that many insects (insects are key to a healthy web and, as food, pass on energy to the next trophic level) have evolved as specialists that feed only on specific native plants, plants that have been in the environment for a very long time. He is a fine writer and the book is a very exciting read.

Bill Bilodeau