Gardening for Life
Well, it's my favorite time of year. The house is decorated and I am enjoying the beauty of a bright snowy morning in the single digits. With relatively few warmblooded exceptions, our project has come to a halt. So I thought I would take a moment to pose a new idea.
About five years ago I was given a book which greatly inspired me (see http://bringingnaturehome.net). Since then I began "Gardening for Life". Subsequently my conservation worldview was shaken to the core by two other reads: Rambunctious Garden (http://www.emmamarris.com/rambunctious-garden/) and Super Species (Hamilton 2010). This one-two punch forced me to take a step back and consider things, such as exotic and rare species, from a more global perspective. One product of my ensuing internal struggle was some resolution to questions that had been stirring inside me for a decade or more. The global mixing of plants and animals through human movement could be more than just the perceived problems it creates. It may also provide some solutions for conservationists willing to challenge themselves to rethink deep-seeded ideas. Since humans ARE part of the system, and are likely to continue expanding, fragmenting and manipulating natural areas, why not do what we can to allow our personal patch of ground to offset some of the losses?
A few important steps toward this goal are 1) using less pesticides, 2) planting native species in place of our vast lawnscapes, and 3) learning to live WITH "pests", understanding that most are important components of diverse and healthy ecosystems. Another very important step (and the reason for this post) is to learn about what plants we have in our landscapes and what species utilize them as hosts.
To accomplish this goal I am requesting that you consider cataloging the plants living around your property, including wild, landscape, and even garden/houseplants. Then document the species living on these plants, such as fungi, insects, etc. I added a "Host" species field that can be used to record the plant (or animal) on which each observation may have been living, as well as a field to record whether or not it was observed in a maintained landscape such as your yard.
Finally, remember to include all other parts of the foodweb occupying your residence. This can be a fun way to add a personal touch to our records, as well as learn about many of the species living under our noses in our urban jungle. It can also give us an additional means to participate closer to home through the winter, including adding past photos that we may not have considered before.
Those participating in this task may want to obscure their residence. There are several ways to accomplish this, but the easiest is simply to record your city (rather than coordinates or complete address) as the location. A final important consideration is to note each species that is not naturalized. There is a checkbox for this when adding your record, or beside each record under "Data Quality Assessment". Enjoy!
Comments
What a great idea. Is there a project for landscaping or yards or some such? That would be a great way to kind of get people to focus on that. Maybe that's my project. Human Habitats. Hmmm...
I thought about that very hard and almost did it using the same boundary. After careful thought I ended up giving up that idea because it would isolate the data from the conservation organizations involved in this project. And this is actually a very important piece of information for conservationists, because it is the primary conduit of exotic invasions and can also show us how our native organisms are adapting to urban environments. I hope you come to the same conclusion ; )
I've been pondering & going back and forth on it, too!
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