READ: How Non-Native Plants are Contributing to a Global Insect Decline (Yale Environment 360)
By Janet Marinelli, an award-winning independent journalist who was director of scientific and popular publications at Brooklyn Botanic Garden for 16 years:
For years, Doug Tallamy sounded the alarm about the grave threat that plants introduced from abroad pose to native insects. By transforming native plant communities into so-called novel landscapes increasingly dominated by exotic species on which many insects cannot feed, the University of Delaware entomologist speculated, they imperil not only insects but also the birds and other animals that depend on insects for survival.
Not everyone has greeted the thesis with open arms. The effect of introduced plants on native biodiversity has been one of the most contentious issues in ecology, compared to gun control, abortion, and other “hot-button issues in contemporary American culture” by Peter Del Tredici, senior research scientist at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum….
Dozens of recent studies, however, have provided evidence that supports Tallamy’s hotly disputed hypothesis.
