Happy Earth Day and 5th Anniversary Biodiversity Gardening!

Just over five years ago I came up with the term "biodiversity gardening" to describe gardening with native plants.  On Earth Day 2011 I launched this educational website, and biodiversity gardening came into being. Gardening with native plants increases biodiversity, compared to conventional gardening practices utilizing alien plants.  It is really quite a simple concept.  Terrestrial ecosystems are comprised of species of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms that coevolved over evolutionary time.  Many of the food webs are based on obligatory relationships, such as those of plants and leaf-feeding insects.  There are many kinds of insects that feed on fresh green leaves, and they require the native host plants they coevolved with. They can't feed on alien plants.  Essentially, a healthy ecosystem will have a diversity and abundance of native plants, which will support a diversity and abundance of native insects, which will in turn support healthy populations of other animals that feed on insects, such as birds.  It is common knowledge that habitat loss is the number one cause of biodiversity decline today. In order to have habitat, you've got to have native plants.  Native plants are the foundation of healthy ecosystems.  Do your part -- transform your backyard into a biodiversity oasis with native plants. Start your biodiversity garden today.  What a great way to celebrate Earth Day!

A late summer biodiversity garden in southern Ontario