Biodiversity in Horticulture exam 3

Ecology

the relationships of organisms to one another and to the environment.

Understanding a butterfly in ecology

not all plants will support a butterflies LIFE CYCLE. So gardeners may plant flowers (butterfly milkweed) that butterflies can feed off, but caterpillars can’t.

Biodiversity

variability among living organisms, supports a BALANCE of wildlife in the environment.

Benefits/importance of biodiversity

better with sexual reproduction, supports local food chain, supports natural soil microbes and biological balance, strengthens ability to adapt to changing environment, promotes ecological resistance, natural pest management

Monoculture

sameness of organisms in an environment, IMBALANCED, better with vegetative genetic plants, not as much variability

Dutch elm disease (dangers of monoculture)

1900’s american towns planted american elms in allees everywhere. theory: Tourists from netherlands brought pregnant beetle that carried dutch elm disease in suitcase. American elms could not stay alive, when they are the only trees planted there is not enough biodiversity. other theory: beetle came on shipped lumber

Champagne grapes

region in France that were growing champagne grapes and now can not anymore due to climate change. If they had 5 different types of grapes they could possibly grow because its promoting biodiversity rather than monoculture

How to help climate change

can be the strongest natural defense against climate change

Statistics for biodiversity collapse

1 million plants/animals threatened with extinction, soils being degraded, deforestation of land and increased urbanization (most ag land is used for animals), exploitation of animals, global climate disruption, pollution, invasive species

Deer hunting

necessary because deers are bonified suburban pests

Importance of wildlife in the landscape

restores balance in ecosystem, contributes to ecosystem resiliency, supports pollinators (builds biological corridors), reduces pest management inputs, slows extinction rate

Biological corridors

building pollinator friendly areas in urbanized cities. flower pot on the top of a building in the city

How to attract wildlife

variety, water, reduce lawn square footage, reduce pesticide usage, native plants work better with native animals

Importance of landscape design

has a lot of repetition that can promote monoculture.

Pesticide usage harms

beneficial insects, some pesticides are non-selective and kill BOTH target insects and beneficial insects. organic pesticides aren’t necessarily “safer”: they are natural but that doesn’t mean they are non toxic

Difference in how europeans and americans use turfgrass

europeans use it as a ground cover, turf is a filler you plant after all the other plants. americans use turf as something to COVER the ground with. 23 million residential acres of residential homes with turf. We use a lot of inputs to keep it going, it is very high maintenance

Monoculture example

backyard of just turfgrass

Nonnatives

aren’t harmful but may not support native wildlife as well as native plants. this doesn’t mean we can not use them, with enough variability they do well!

Benefits of BIRDS!

seed dispersion, pollinators, contribute to balance ecosystem,

Why has bird population decreased dramatically? Down to 3 billion (29%) since 1970

ubranization (birds flying into buildings), habitat loss, insect decline, predators, pesticides

How to help the bird population and attract them to your yard

create a landscape that provides protection, resting, and nesting. Provide WATER; bird bath, even a tray of water. birds won’t come to your feeder if your yard is not inviting. INSECTS

Multilayered landscape

trees, shrubs, various heights of plants to provide room for many types of wildlife

Caterpillars

birds can feed 812 caterpillars to their nest in one day. 14k species of caterpillars in north america. about 5000 caterpillars to raise a clutch of chickadees. White oak tree group can support 512 different caterpillars, golden rod can support 115 types of caterpillars.

Insects

key to attracting birds, they pollinate 87-90% of flowering plants, insects manage insect pests, decomposing organism (dead insects) release nutrients in the soil, food for birds

keystone species

plant that supports a huge amount of animals/plants in environment. ex: white oak, fennel, parsley, milkweed, Rue (birds ate all caterpillars on Rue plant his granddaughters cried), queen anne’s lace

Doug Tallamy’s native vs nonnative advice

70% native/30% nonnative

Crops and pollinators

150 US foods DEPEND on pollinators. foods that are worth 10 billion depend on pollinators

Bees

pollinate 75% of american plants, primary pollinator in almost ALL crop plants. 4000 species of wild bees in US alone. They face habitat loss with urbanization and invasive species

Pollen specialist

picky eaters, they only collect pollen from one species or genus

how to attract insects

use nectar and pollen producing plants, provide water source, situate in sunny/protected areas, eliminate/minimize pesticides or use them correctly, use pollinator targets of native and “nice” nonnative, continous blooming plants

Nativars

cultivar derived from locally sourced species (came from a native plant), naturally occurring variations, cross bred, or hybridized

Why are nativars bred

bred for improved look, performance, smaller size, stronger stems, flower color, improved fruiting, disease resistance

Advantages of nativars

retains ecological benefits of natives, more adaptable to current landscaping trends

Disadvantages of nativars

possible negative effects on birds and insects

Doug Tallamy

performed a study on 10 native plants to see how insects would behave. He noticed that burgundy leaved nativars had a significant amount of reduced insect feeding. While insect feeding on variegated leaves went up, this is due to the fact that variegated leaves had LESS chlorophyll. So insects would have to EAT MORE of the plant.

Annie White and her study of nativars

she found that highly altered traits reduce pollen seekers. these traits include sterile flowers, double flower, color change, plant architecture

What did annie white discover about the coneflower specifically?

change in flower color, double flowers, or smaller plant size decreased insect attraction