Bringing Nature Home

Douglas W. Tallamy is blunt: “My central message is that unless we restore native plants to our suburban ecosystems, the future of biodiversity in the United States is dim.”

I was shocked to read this: “Most insect herbivores can only eat plants with which they share an evolutionary history.” The meaning is clear: non-native plants can't support a rich and diverse ecosystem of native insects and birds.

This is grim: “We have become accustomed to meeting our needs without compromise. If we need space to live, we take it—all of it—and if that means filling in a pollywog pond or cutting down a woodlot, then so be it. We feel completely justified in sending the plants and animals that depend on those habitats off to make do someplace else. This is partly because no one is going to choose a pollywog over a human if presented with such a choice, and partly because, until recently, there always has been someplace else for nature to thrive. But no longer.”

How about this: “Unless we modify the places we live, work, and play to meet not only our own needs but the needs of other species as well, nearly all species of wildlife native to the United States will disappear forever.”

Happily, the author doesn't stop here. “The predictions of mass extinction are based on the assumption that the vast majority of plants and animals cannot coexist with humans in the same place at the same time. Nonsense! Evidence suggests that the opposite is true: most species could live quite nicely with humans if their most basic ecological needs were met.”

A marvelous book everyone needs to read.