Date: 11/9/24 9:25 am From: Fred Kaluza <fkaluza...> Subject: [birders] Re: Native plants, caterpillars, and birds
Until our governmental agencies decide on a unified path and stop trying to be all-things-to-all-people, natural systems will continue their decay. Months ago I signed up for all the MDNR newsletters. Since then I’ve learned they support conflicting agendas on multiple fronts. Everything from “Bobcat Harvesting” to “Wildlife Conservation”. From “Urban Forestry” to “Sustainable Logging” and “Soil Conservation” to”Selling mineral leases in State Parks”. We have a family friend who works for the DNR who (as part of the job) makes visits to the properties of commercial businesses (the clients) and advises them on pollinators and native host plants (to increase Berry and Cherry production for human use) because right now, they only have to broadcast insect hormone disrupters twice a year to kill everything they don’t like! Ever-expanding humanity and an intact natural world seemingly can’t exist simultaneously. Yes, informed people are depressed people.
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From: Neubig, Richard <rneubig...>
Sent: Saturday, November 9, 2024 9:29:19 AM
To: <birders...> <birders...>
Subject: [birders] Native plants, caterpillars, and birds
All,
My wife is reading Doug Tallamy’s new book on Oaks. He cites some particularly scary data. I know I’m preaching to the choir but we should all be planting natives and get our friends to do so also.
First in a study (2018) on how non-natives have replaced natives in hedgerows (think honeysuckle), the data are striking. “novel (non-native) hedgerows had 68% fewer caterpillar species, 91% fewer caterpillars, and 96% less caterpillar biomass than native hedgerows.”
Also, in yards with different extents of non-native shrubs and other plants, the viability of bird survival was strikingly related to the fraction of native shrubs – presumably due to the very low food insect mass on non-natives. If a yard had less than 70% natives, Carolina Chickadees had much smaller brood sizes and couldn’t even maintain replacement levels of breeding.
This shows how even modest replacement of native plants by non-natives can have a major impact.
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