By Marlene Knezevich as seen in the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette
End of summer is near and it is a great time to be planting. Thinking of planting a tree or three? Consider a native tree that is a keystone species. What is a keystone species? It is a species that provides the most needs for other species in the ecosystem.
When doing a presentation, we ask the group, “Do you like birds?” The majority of the hands enthusiastically go up. Then we ask, “Do you like bugs?” Reluctantly a few hands rise. The point is, if there no bugs, there are no birds! Why? Just like our infants, baby birds need soft, high protein food. The source is the larvae or caterpillars of butterflies, moths and others. Doug Tallamy, an entomologist, discovered that Mom and Dad chickadees feeding a clutch of 4 offspring, need to capture up to 570 caterpillars every day for 16 to 18 days until the hatchlings fledge. That is a lot of caterpillars and they are busy! If there is a lack of food, then there will be fewer birds.
What has this got to do with planting trees? Native oak trees are the top keystone species supporting the nurseries for up to 450 species of butterflies and moths that have evolved together over time. The non-native Bradford pear supports one. The top five keystone species are native oak, native plum and cherry, birch, cottonwood and maples.
For more information, see the chart in the Resources section of letstreewilmot.ca under Why plant native tree. Doug Tallamy also has great webinars available on YouTube.
Planting trees? We want to know about it so contact us at letstreewilmot.ca/wilmot-rooted-together
