University of Massachusetts AmherstScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

Environmental Conservation Educational Materials Environmental Conservation

2018

Regional Invasive Species & Climate ChangeManagement Challenge: Why Native? Benefits ofplanting native species in a changing climateEmily J. FuscoUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

Jenica M. AllenUniversity of New Hampshire

Evelyn M. BeauryUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

Michelle R. JacksonUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

Brittany B. LaginhasUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

See next page for additional authors

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Fusco, Emily J.; Allen, Jenica M.; Beaury, Evelyn M.; Jackson, Michelle R.; Laginhas, Brittany B.; Morelli, Toni Lyn; and Bradley,Bethany A., "Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Why Native? Benefits of planting native species ina changing climate" (2018). Environmental Conservation Educational Materials. 3.https://doi.org/10.7275/2248-hc42

AuthorsEmily J. Fusco, Jenica M. Allen, Evelyn M. Beaury, Michelle R. Jackson, Brittany B. Laginhas, Toni LynMorelli, and Bethany A. Bradley

This article is available at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/eco_ed_materials/3

Why Native?Benefits of planting native species in a changing climate

Yards host a variety of native and non-native plants. It is easy to assume all plants play a similar role in supporting wild-life, but native plants dramatically increase the diversity of bees, butterflies, birds and other native animals. Additionally, non-native plants can become invasive or support invasive pests. Native plants increase biodiversity and reduce risks associated with invasive species, which supports resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change.

Summary

Native plants support native wildlifeLandscaping with native plants offers a unique opportunity to promote healthy, resilient ecosystems. Native plants support a diverse food web due to a long history of interacting and evolving with other native wildlife. Most native insects evolved to be specialists on native plants. An example specialist is the monarch butterfly caterpillar, which only eats milkweed. Native plants support a more complex food web of both specialist and generalist insects, resulting in a higher diversity and abundance of native birds, butterflies, and pollinators (Figure 1).

Definitions

Native landscaping: Predominantly plants indigenous to the region

Traditional landscaping: Predomi-nantly non-native, ornamental plants

Northeast

RISCCManagement

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change

Management Challenge

Specialist: Uses only specific food and habitat resources

Generalist: Uses a variety of food and habitat resources

Landscaping with non-native plants

Caterpillars

Birds

eate

n by

Pollina

tors Pollinators

become

Native Plants

Caterpillars

Pollina

tors

eate

n by

Birds

Pollinators

become

Dragonflies

eaten by

Non-native Plants

Landscaping with native plantsFigure 1. Native plants support insects, which in turn support birds and other animals. More caterpillars in your yard might sound alarming, but most of those caterpillars are eaten by nesting birds, and many become pollinators.

Compared to ‘traditional’ landscaping, native land-scaping supports:

50% higher abundance of native birds

9x higher abundance of rare birds

3x more butterfly species

2x higher abundance of native bees

Non-native: A species unlikely to have arrived without human assistanceInvasive: An established non-native species that is spreading with negative impacts

References: Burghardt et al. 2010 Ecosphere; Culina 2002 Houghton Mifflin; Garden et al. 2015 Parasites & Vectors; Liebhold et al. 2012 Front Ecol Environ; Morandin & Kremen 2013 Eco App; Narango et al. 2018 PNAS; Pimentel et al. 2005 Ecol Econ; Poelen et al. 2014 Ecol Info; Simberloff et al. 2012 Ecology; Tallamy & Shropshire 2009 Conserv Biol; Williams et al. 2017 Environ Entomol.

Even seemingly benign non-native species could be ‘sleeper species’ that will become invasive with climate change.

Authors: Emily J. Fusco, Jenica M. Allen, Evelyn M. Beaury, Michelle R. Jackson,

*bbradley@eco.umass.eduBrittany B. Laginhas, Toni Lyn Morelli, Bethany A. Bradley*

Management recommendations

Costs of Non-natives

Share the benefits of native plants with your friends and neighbors

Replace non-native species with natives to prevent future invasion and support biodiversity

Where to find native alternatives

Benefits of Natives

Aim for less than 30% non-native plants in your garden to support nesting success

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100

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(Quercus)Oak

(Prunus)Cherry

(Acer)Maple

(Tilia)Basswood

Native trees

Non-native trees

Num

ber o

f Cat

erpi

llar S

peci

es

Native trees support twice the caterpillar diversity asrelated non-native trees

Common non-native trees gingko, golden raintree & amur maackia support only 5 caterpillar species combined

For the Northeast, New England Wild Flower has a list of native alternatives to invasive plants

Find links to local resources on the USDA Forest Service’s Native Gardening website

Non-native ornamental plants are 40x more likely to become invasive than native ornamental plants.

Sites invaded by Japanese barberry (an invasive plant still available as an ornamental) contain 3x more deer ticks infected with Lyme disease.

An estimated 70% of non-native forest pests, including hemlock woolly adelgid in the U.S. arrived as contaminants on nursery plant imports.

Invasive plants cost the U.S. an estimated $20 billion per year to manage and control.

L.J. Mehrhoff, UConn, Bugwood.org S. Bauer, USDA, wikimedia

N.A. Tonelli, wikimedia

Invasive Japanese barberry Deer ticks carry Lyme

Native hemlock infested with woolly adelgid

J. Benson, flickr

https://doi.org/10.7275/2248-hc42