I am a big advocate of native plants, but the argument that natives are adapted to local soils, climate, etc. is really not right some (if not a lot) of the time. In the majority of "landscape" settings, the soils have been remarkably degraded and even the climate little resembles that in which the natives evolved sometimes with heat island effects, etc. The unfortunate conclusions is that in some cases "natives" are actually less well suited to any given site. As much as many may not want to admit it, at times the best plant for any given site might not be native, but rather adapted to an area.
-----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter Beck Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 10:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Arguments for Native Plants 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
