Why Native Plants?

The term native plant generally refers to a plant being from within a local food web. Food webs are the very complex interactions between organisms that are transferring energy from one group to the next; basically, who is eating whom in an ecosystem. 

Over time, a plant native to SW Ohio has adapted to the local environment, soil and weather types, and water availability. It is the work and research of ecologists, wildlife biologists and entomologists, like Dr Douglas Tallamy, that have shown native plants are essential in supporting local wildlife ranging from bees, butterflies and birds to reptiles and mammals. Tallamy says “Native plants have been associated with native insect communities over millions of years and they have had plenty of time to develop specialized relationships. For example, the Monarch butterfly, over time has specialized on milkweed and only milkweed and is unable to digest any other plant. 

Like the Monarch, about 90% of our insects are specialists on a plant species or a plant family.  “Non-native plants are new comers to our ecosystems. There’s been no time for evolutionary interactions to occur. So the specialization, that really is nature, hasn’t occurred.” That makes planting native plants absolutely necessary in preventing species loss.