Homegrown National Park: Interview With Doug Tallamy On Personal Environmental Responsibility, Bringing Nature Back To Our Backyards

Please see our review of the author’s book Nature’s Best Hope.

Doug Tallamy is the T.A. Baker Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. One of the main focuses of his scientific research is to better understand the many ways in which insects interact with plants, and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His research has led him to draw some conclusions about native plants and their effect on animal life that put a reason to the admonition of the new environmental movement toward planting native species. Many people, including myself, have heard that invasive species are bad, but the reasons why were never really clarified. There have also been scientists on the other side of the argument that have said that planting invasive species can be equivalent, and they are still able to feed the birds.

Something that we discussed in the interview was the most basic reason for this need to plant native species in our backyards and gardens. It is also incredibly easy to do so, and the results can be spectacular and beautiful. Joining Homegrown National Park on their website is easy and free, and it adds to the data they have about the restoration of native plant communities that is happening all over the United States and in Canada.

But first, we talked about personal responsibility. If you purchase a piece of the Earth, that means you have to take care of THAT piece of the Earth. You don’t have to take care of a plot of land in Africa, just your own piece of the Earth. If everyone did that, we would restore the ecosystem and prevent ecological collapse. As he details in this segment of the video, we are already seeing the signs of it. On Doug’s website is the quote: “…what if each American landowner converted half of his or her yard to productive native plant communities? Even moderate success could effectively restore some semblance of ecosystem function to more than 20 million acres of what is now ecological wasteland.”

When he speaks about an ecological wasteland, one of the aspects that we discussed is the presence of lawns on so much private property. While a lawn is great to walk on, and it is a rare plant in terms of being able to be walked on without killing it, it is a status symbol. That status symbol is consistently mowed, with a bunch of chemicals applied to it to kill all bug life thereon. Thus, the birds seeking insects to feed their babies would not be able to find them on your lawn. If this lawn were converted to plant communities that are native, then that would no longer be the case.

He also talks about the importance of several new fields of employment: native plant nurseries to meeting the new demand for native plants, and an ecological landscaper, one who doesn’t apply pesticides or anything else to disturb the ecosystem you are creating.

The need for productive plant communities consisting of native plants

So, back to the original issue at hand: why is it important to plant native species, and what is a productive plant community? The author discusses how, over many millenia, insects and plants have evolved together, or rather insects have evolved ways around plant defenses. Every plant has defenses. A popularly known example is the monarch butterfly. These butterflies feed on milkweed pods, whose being-eaten-by-insects defense is a milky white sap, hence the name.

The monarch butterfly has evolved special defenses for only this plant, thus, these bugs can ONLY eat this plant. When the milkweed plants disappeared, so did the monarchs. It was only because of human interest in this particularly species that this was able to begin to be turned around. As we will discuss later on, we are not out of the woods yet, as pesticide spraying programs to protect against various viruses by killing mosquitoes with broad-spectrum pesticides kills every bug, including and perhaps especially the monarchs, who tend to hang in trees at night.

It is important to remember that the monarch butterfly is not alone. Many insects have evolved defenses against one specific plant, without which their species will go extinct. When you introduce non-native plants to your garden, you may notice one thing in particular that can indicate why it is not a good plant: there are no holes in the leaves. No insects have been able to eat it, in other words. So, the more of these types of plants you have in your backyard, the fewer insects overall you will have.

If you are thinking, as undoubtedly many are, who cares about yucky bugs, if they are gone or not? As we have detailed in our article on the Anthropocene age of extinction, it matters very much. The insects feed the birds, and not just any birds, but in particular baby birds. Most birds will raise their babies on insects, larval moths, aka caterpillars, specifically. If there are no caterpillars in your yard, the bird will have to make their nest elsewhere. This is because each of their babies needs hundreds of bugs each day in order to grow and develop properly. If there are no caterpillars, then the babies do not get enough food. This is what was always taught to us as the “food chain” that is the foundation of life on Earth, but this is the first step on the chain. Insects feed the birds, so if there are no insects, there will be fewer and fewer birds. According to Doug, we have lost millions of breeding birds over the last decades.

In addition, 14% of the plants on Earth support 90% of the insects.  So, it really does matter whether we are creating native plant communities to feed the insects and other life on this planet.

If you love the birds, you have a hand in their survival

For those who do love the birds, helping them is very easy, particularly if you have a large backyard. You can plant an oak tree. This is totally free, all you have to do is find an oak tree in your neighborhood that looks healthy, and find a nice acorn in the fall. If you took the acorn from a white oak, you should plant it right away, as it will germinate and start growing immediately. If it is a red oak, put in in a plastic bag in your refrigerator (make sure it is dry first), and then plant it in the spring.

These plant grow super fast. The author did just this back in 2000, and the tree is now 70 feet tall. And it can support hundreds of caterpillar species, which will feed many, many birds.

If you don’t have sufficient property for an oak tree, you can still plant native species that are small and pretty. For our area, some examples would be goldenrod and asters. These are available from many nurseries online. To find additional plants that are native to your area, you can visit the National Audubon Society’s plant finder website and enter your zip code.

If everyone planted just a few native plants in their backyard, or even on their balcony, this mass extinction that is presently occurring could be turned around. The most significantly affected are, in fact, insects. We are and have been losing insects at an alarming rate.

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But the bees are starting to come back, and since more people are taking notice of these important issues, people are beginning to notice that they see bugs again, and not just mosquitoes.

Bug Lights Another Important Issue

Moths and non-target insect species are grateful that the popularity of insect stinger lights has waned. These lights would actually kill 98% non-target insects. However, it is not just these lights that are an issue.

Streetlights and backyard lights that are bright white are attractive to moths and some other insects. No one knows quite why, and the theories are quite varied. But one thing is certain: white lights at night are terrible for insects. There are several ways they are damaging.

First, the bugs fly into the light with all of their energy, possibly dazing themselves or causing themselves harm. Some of them fly around the light for hours, using up all their energy. Very often, the bugs then settle down behind the light and just sit there all night. Birds quickly learn where a light is, and they pick off the insects in the morning who sat there all night.

Most importantly, they are not doing what they are supposed to, which is finding a mate. Thus, they are not perpetuating their own cycle.

However, the solution is very simple: install YELLOW lights. Red lights are even better, but no one would go for turning every neighborhood into a red-light district. Also, red lights provide less illumination than we need.

Yellow lights, though, do provide sufficient illumination for human activities while at the same time, they do not attract insects. That problem is particularly easy to solve, and will benefit us to do so.

Another problem for birds: feral and outdoor cats

As we covered previously in our article about the dog and cat adoption crisis, another serious danger to birds is outdoor cats. Cats who live in people’s houses should be kept indoors, and, as Doug tell us, if they are started indoors only, they do not miss being outside.

Cats are natural hunters. Even a well-fed cat will still hunt. When people find stray cats, and they Trap, Neuter, and Release them, where they bring them is quite important. There is a feral cat colony at Cape May, New Jersey, where people keep bringing feral cats and releasing them.

The problem is that this area is a migratory bird stopover. So the birds come in to rest, and they are attacked and hunted by the cats that don’t really belong there.

So many insects, especially monarch butterflies, are killed by “mosquito spraying” both municipal and residential

In the last few decades, many municipalities have taken to spraying for mosquitoes each fall. We have published their announcements in the past. We have also discussed in great detail, in the same article mentioned above, why this is terrible for insect life and extinction. The pesticides that are sprayed in these campaigns are broad-spectrum pesticides. They kill every bug, regardless of type.

This is an issue because, as we discussed in the interview and in the article previously mentioned, predator bugs make fewer eggs. They have fewer babies overall, and particularly season to season. As they have evolved, this is how it has always worked. Mosquitoes and other prey type bugs are the opposite. Similarly to roaches, they make multiple babies at one time, laying possibly hundreds of eggs per brood. Thus, after a spraying campaign, the mosquito population recovers within weeks, and they become a super population because their predators have all been killed, since they recover much more slowly.

As the author pointed out, all of the great efforts that have been expended to bring back the monarch butterfly from the brink of extinction are being canceled out by these spraying campaigns. In many areas where monarchs have come back, people find piles of them in their backyards, killed by the insecticides sprayed by their county. If people want to save the monarch butterflies, or the bees, who tend to nest in the ground and are also killed by these pesticides, then these types of spraying campaigns should not be conducted.

They should especially not be brought into preserved green spaces such as city parks. That is completely counterproductive, as the wildlife in the parks relies on the insects for food. This includes small mammals and rodents, such as chipmunks, squirrels, and mice, along with larger animals such as raccoons. They feed on insects, which are often destroyed by these spray campaigns. The author shares some tips on what residents can do, including opt-out programs, that vary by municipality.

In addition, mosquito populations can be effectively reduced using mosquito dunks, and keeping standing water out of your yard.  If your concern is being bitten yourself, a fan that is directed toward you and your family will keep them away very well.  They will not fly into the breeze, and so you will not get bitten.

Readers will find Doug’s insights helpful in broadening their understanding of native plants in their backyards. Joining Homegrown National Park is easy and free, and there are no minimums for how many plants you need in your garden. And as he stated, if everyone planted just their little piece of Earth, this ecological wasteland could be restored.

Watch the video above for the full interview.

Banner Image: Video cover. Image Credit – Staten Islander News