Local homeowners and gardeners interested in making an ecological difference can feel encouraged because it’s not only easy, it’s also fun.
Greenfield resident Nancy Hazard is delighted that enthusiasm for conservation is growing and invites community members to register for a free virtual session taking place this evening sponsored by Greening Greenfield. The online event will include a question and answer session with the featured speaker, ecologist Meredith Gallogly.
Gallogly, the manager of programs at Grow Native Massachusetts, will speak at 7 p.m. about “Birds, Insects, and Plants: Sustaining Healthy Food Webs with Keystone Plant Species.” Gallogly’s organization works to inspire people to action across the state on behalf of native plants and the diversity of life they support.
Hazard, a Greening Greenfield member, says she is excited about the group’s new campaign, “70% Native Plants,” inspired by the work of University of Massachusetts Amherst professor Dr. Desiree Narango, a Shutesbury resident.
“Narango wrote her Ph.D. thesis on chickadees and has great interest in urbanized environments,” said Hazard, who discovered that an author whose work she greatly admires, Doug Tallamy, was Narango’s Ph.D. advisor.
“When I retired in 2006 from directing NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association), I wanted to transform my yard in order to attract more birds,” said Hazard. “I figured that meant planting berry-producing shrubs, right?”
Around the same time, though, she read “Bringing Nature Home,” by Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. “The book changed the way I understand nature’s cycles,” said Hazard.
“Public awareness about the importance of pollinators has grown,” said Hazard, “but many well-meaning gardeners and growers think that shrubs and flowers are the most important ways to encourage and support butterflies, birds and bees. But there’s more to it than just planting flowers and shrubs.”
For one thing, Hazard noted, wildlife and the local environment is significantly supported when at least 70 percent of plants are native to the area. Another important factor is sourcing plants grown without chemicals that can harm insects and birds. “I’ve learned so much, and I keep learning, thanks to organizations and publications devoted to these subjects,” Hazard said. “The importance of native trees, for example. That’s a big factor, too.”
Attending this evening’s virtual event, Hazard noted, “is a great way to examine the ecological links between birds, caterpillars and native plants, and what we can do to support natural systems while adding beauty to our yards and communities.”
Hazard cited the work of Narango, who involved about 250 urban families in a program designed to monitor the behavior of chickadees. What emerged is a testimony to the miracle of nature: chickadee parents feeding a family of four nestlings must transport 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars each day for about three weeks.
“That’s a lot of caterpillars,” Hazard noted. “And the parents’ chances of success are greatly improved if the trees within a 50-yard radius of the nest are native to the area. That’s one of many things we learned from Dr. Narango’s work, inspiring us to launch our 70 percent campaign.”
Citing oaks as an example, Hazard said, “Oak is king. Oaks host over 400 different species of moths and butterflies.” She noted that — while many plants produce toxins to protect themselves from insects — moth and butterflies have evolved to tolerate toxins produced by oaks.
“It’s an amazing cycle,” she said. “Moths and butterflies lay their eggs, which hatch into caterpillars, which in turn eat leaves and grow plump. Some survive to reproduce, while others become food for birds.” Hazard added that plants are the only organisms on our planet that create food. “Birds can’t eat leaves, so caterpillars are the link.”
Meredith Gallogly’s talk this evening will draw from and build on Narango’s work.
“I look forward to meeting folks virtually and reconnecting with Greenfield,” said Gallogly. “I have fond memories of frequent bus trips up to Greenfield from Smith College, where I studied biology with a focus on ecology. I spent many hours at the Greenfield Registry of Deeds while doing a land history project.”
Gallogly speaks broadly about ecological issues while focusing on details that support nature’s big picture. “For example, caterpillars play an outsize role in our ecosystems,” she said, echoing Hazard’s enthusiasm. “They eat the plants which gather nutrients via photosynthesis, then birds eat the caterpillars. That’s how the plant energy gets moved up the food chain.”
The focus of her talk will be the caterpillars that chickadees and other birds depend on for survival, because “the larval stage of butterflies and moths are crucial in our ecosystem because they’re nutritious, soft, and edible — perfect bird food.”
Gallogly said changes quickly become evident when one transitions a home garden to native plants. “It’s empowering, and so fun,” she said. Even in suburban and urban spaces, Gallogly sees payoffs almost instantly.
“At our office site in Waltham, our outdoor spaces were overgrown with invasive plants. When we replaced invasives with native plants, pollinators showed up while the plants were still in their pots. And as we moved pots around, the beneficial insects followed us. It was so beautiful.”
Hazard said she hopes people “will try to set aside negative associations they might have with caterpillars and larval stages, because they’re vital to our survival.”
Learning about the links between critters and plants is key.
Gallogly’s talk will delve into why some native plants are called keystone plants. “They significantly sustain healthy food webs. I’ll highlight readily available keystone plants of the northeast for a variety of landscape conditions, and offer tips on establishing and managing the plants.”
“Learning about the interconnectedness of butterflies, moths, and birds has completely changed what I choose to plant in my yard and community,” Hazard said. “Most people know that milkweed is vital for monarchs to survive, but we also need to know about the significance of native trees and shrubs in hosting butterflies and moths.”
Hazard noted that she’s noticed a significant reduction in insect populations since moving to Western Massachusetts in 1970. “We used to have to clean our windshields of dead insects after driving any significant distance,” she said. “Now, hardly any. That’s actually not a good thing. We need to understand the role of insects in our food web and stop waging war on insects.”
Those who advocate for draining swamps and using insecticides may be well-intentioned, but are not seeing the whole picture and end up contributing to environmental degradation, according to Hazard. She added, “We must embrace abundance, which is necessary to our survival. All of us: not just insects, birds and plants. All of us.”
Hazard brought up another point: “Non-native plants bring non-native pest bugs. So removing non-native plants and replacing them with native species could bring the added benefit of removing pests while restoring habitats.
“Not only are plants critically important to the many creatures sharing our planet, nature is the only way we can draw carbon out of the atmosphere and store it to lessen the severity of the climate crisis. What you plant in your yard and community matters.”
To register for this evening’s virtual talk with Meredith Gallogly at 7 p.m., go to Greening Greenfield’s website: greeninggreenfieldma.org and click on “events.”
Eveline MacDougall’s family farms on land in southern Québec for the ninth generation. An author, artist and mom, she welcomes comments at eveline@amandlachorus.org.