The loss of wild spaces, woodlands, and meadows to development has decimated our ecosystems. The biodiversity that once existed has been plowed over. After development has been completed, manicured lawns and exotic trees are put in place. The wildlife communities that once thrived are now gone.
The impacts of development are amplified by invasive species. They have caused the extinction of entire populations (i.e., the American chestnut) and take over what wild spaces are left. Invasive species in the Mid-Atlantic include, but are not limited to, amur honeysuckle, Norway maple, oriental bittersweet, burning bush, Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, and the hemlock woolly adelgid. Unfortunately, many of your local plant nursery still sell invasive plant species. I encourage you to politely ask them to stop. These invasive species are rapidly destroying our national and state parks. I spent 200 hours last summer clearing out invasive plants from Codorus state park, and I can tell you firsthand that the situation is bad.
Now for some hard facts. In the United States and Canada, we have lost three billion birds since 1970, global insect populations are declining at 2% per year, and in six years, the Mid-Atlantic has lost 29,000 acres of urban tree canopy.
There are people working to make a difference. The Native Plant Company and other local native plant nurseries are producing native plants for your yard. The American Chestnut Foundation is leading the effort to bring back the functionally extinct American chestnut. Researchers, such as Doug Tallamy, are identifying the importance of native plants. Your state native plant society is educating people and promoting the use of native plants.
You can act now and make a difference in your own yard. Plant a native tree in your yard, plant native flowers in your garden, or create a native pollinator meadow in a space you don’t use. Putting native plants in your yard will make a difference today. It is our moral duty to restore our ecosystems. Act today and plant native.