![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Common-Lacewing-Chrysopa-species-by-JJ-Harrison.jpg?fit=584%2C390\")
These\ngroups, along with the Pollinators featured in the first report of the RHS\nstudy, constitute a vital component of the garden\u2019s balanced ecosystem. In\naddition to breaking down dead plant material, these plant-dwelling\ninvertebrates provide food for other wildlife, including birds, reptiles, and\nsmall mammals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their\nfour-year Plants for Bugs study, the RHS scientists used suction samplers to\ncollect about 18,000 of plant-dwelling invertebrates. Their samples included\n18% Herbivores, 3% Omnivores, 18% Predators, and 61% Detritivores. They also\ncollected about 4,700 uncategorized invertebrates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\nrecorded these collections of invertebrates separately from plants that were\nnative to three different areas: the United Kingdom (called \u201dnatives\u201d), other\nareas in the Northern Hemisphere (\u201cnear natives\u201d, and Southern Hemisphere (\u201cexotics\u201d).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they\nfound with Pollinators, the scientists found that the native plants supported\nthe largest numbers of the plant-dwelling invertebrates. By comparison with the\nnative plants, the near-native plants supported about 10% fewer invertebrates,\nand the exotic plants supported 20% fewer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall,\nthese observations indicated that native plants are most important in\nsupporting these groups of invertebrates, and the near-native and exotic plants\nalso provide effective support at somewhat reduced levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study\nconcluded that gardens should emphasize native plants, but could include\nnear-native and exotic plants as well. The most important consideration was to\ndevelop a dense planting scheme so that the garden could support all kinds of\nplant-dwelling invertebrates as part of a balanced ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exotic\nplants are important to include in the garden for Pollinators because Southern\nHemisphere plants often bloom during months when Northern Hemisphere plants are\ndormant, and thus provide Pollinators with food sources for a longer period of\nthe year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although\nthis study was conducted in England, its findings could apply reasonably also to\ngardens of the Monterey Bay area. With that interpretation, we would treat California\nnative plants as the \u201cnatives,\u201d plants from the Mediterranean climate areas as\n\u201cnear natives,\u201d and any other plants as \u201cexotics.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two\nstudies support the usual assessment that native plants are most supportive of\nlocal plant-dwelling invertebrates, while showing that near-native and exotic\nplants also provide effective supports for the garden\u2019s ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nfindings might apply as well to local birds, reptiles and mammals, but demonstrating\nthose relationships would require another study. For example, while\nberry-producing shrubs provide natural food for birds, separate counts of bird\nvisits to native, near-native, and exotic berry-producing shrubs might yield\ninteresting results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That would\nbe a very challenging assignment! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a recent column, we described the first report of the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s \u201cPlants for Bugs\u201d study, which focused on Pollinators. In this column, we\u2019ll look at the second report of this study, \u201cGardens as Habitats for Plant-Dwelling Invertebrates\u201d … Continue reading