Subject: Re: Native Gardens/Wildlife Gardens
From: "Nick LaRocca" <poly_math@*hot*mail.com>
Organization: TORMAN
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 98 17:58:50
Message-ID: <MOD$980729.22844@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$980729.11580@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
Bill Robinson wrote in article
<MOD$980729.11580@rec.gardens.ecosystems>...
>
> One of the problems in converting a native site
> to a "naturalized" garden or a wildlife garden when
> there is a heavy tree canopy is that there isn't
> enough light to give many options. Rather than
> being able to put in plants that are more or less
> natural to that setting and/or being able to put in plants that will
> attract and maintain a wider diversity
> of wildlife, the emphasis shifts to putting in things
> that will handle all the shade.
I'm a little confused about what you are trying to say and do here.
If you are in a location where a forest IS the "natural" climax, then the
native plants and wildlife which grow there will be adapted to that
ecosystem.
If you are trying to establish a different ecosystem, then the best
approach is to maintain an interim succession community or sere. That
may require more research to establish and more work to maintain, but again
you will be using plants (and, hopefully, attracting wildlife) which are
native for that region, but not necessarily adapted to the climax
succession.
Either approach has validity, because both of them are "natural", and both
can (and should) support biological diversity.
Personally, however, if I already had a climax forest I don't think I would
cut it down simply to create a sere; I'd maintain a woodland. Similarly,
if I had an open field in a forest region, I might consider other
possibilities besides letting it run to brush and pioneer trees on the way
to becoming a forest again, especially if exotic plants are establishing
themselves.
Of course, some forest regions have natural open areas just as some
grasslands and savannas have naturally occurring wooded areas, and both
also contain numerous wetlands. These "island" ecosystems are usually more
fragile than the surroundings and are the types of areas that may contain
rare species, or species removed from their usual range. Also the ones
that are usually the most threatened.
If that's what you have in mind to establish, IMO it's better to do that in
a location where the underlying geology supports that community (and
perhaps historically WAS that community) rather than trying to create an
artificial situation. Unless for some reason the actual island community
is being threatened with extinction, and no other alternatives are
available.
--
Nick - NJ - Zone 7a
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