CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATIVE PLANTS IN OUR LANDSCAPES

National Wild Ones President Joe Powelka outlined the following three steps in the March/April issue of the Wild Ones Journal. Joe stated, "besides the basic individual responsibilities to conserve resources and reduce our consumption, we should have as our primary focus the use of native plants in our landscapes. Native landscapes offer the following three global warming solutions, among others:

• With global warming comes an increased need for potable water. Native plants require less water to survive with changing environments. Native plants, with their deep root systems, will return more water to the ground preventing rainwater runoff. Native plants are what make rain gardens work. Wetland native species offer natural filtration systems to improve water quality.

• Carbon sequestration - taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The root structures of many of our native prairie plants extend deep into the ground, unlike most non-natives. This root structure allows the native plants to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon is one of the major constituents of global warming and removing it from the weather cycle slows the warming process. The main carbon "sinks" are grasslands, forest, and organisms in the oceans and soil.

• Reductions in fossil fuel and chemical use - native landscapes, in general, require less maintenance in the form of mowing, fertilization and chemical disbursement. In fact, native landscapes can survive without any of these man-made solutions for control. But for those needing some order in their landscape, no mow lawns and native plants significantly reduce the emissions associated with lawn and garden care combustion equipment, and the use of water polluting fertilizers and life-destroying chemicals. When we stop using fossil fuels and chemicals in our yards, we also reduce the need to transport and produce these items, further reducing the impact on our environment.

Individuals and families alike can have a big impact on reducing the carbon footprint by something as simple as how they maintain their yards. Using environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve and restore ecological biodiversity and clean water by reducing the use of herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers and water will go a long way toward making a difference in climate change.

Return to Climate Change page.