Backyards filled with non-native plants may be at the heart of declines in backyard birds, according to a Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute study.
Researchers placed nestboxes in more than 160 yards in the Washington, D.C., area and collected data from homeowners monitoring them for Carolina chickadee nests, eggs and nestlings.
They also studied adult and juvenile survival by gathering data from the homeowners on individually marked birds they had resighted.
The researchers found that the only yards able to produce enough chickadees to sustain a stable population were those with a plant composition made up of more than 70 percent of native plants.
Chickadees depend on the availability of high-calorie, high-protein prey, such as caterpillars, for a healthy breeding season.
And, more than 90 percent of herbivorous insect caterpillars will only eat one or a few native plants.
Backyards landscaped with even a small portion of nonnative plants, however, lack the appropriate cuisine, leading to a decline in the breeding success and population growth of the bird species, according to a new SCBI study.
“Landowners are using nonnative plants in their yards because they’re pretty and exotic, they’re easy to maintain, and they tend to have fewer pests on them,” said Desirée Narango, a graduate student researcher at the institute.
“But it turns out that a lot of those insects they see as pests are actually critical food resources for our breeding birds.
“For landowners who want to make a difference, our study shows that a simple change they make in their yards can be profoundly helpful for bird conservation.”
The researchers speculate that native plants are likely just as critical for other resident birds, endangered species and migratory species, and not just in backyards on the East Coast.
The study is the first to directly link the decline of a common resident bird species to the lack of insect prey resulting from the use of nonnative plants in backyard landscaping.
“These novel, artificial suburban landscapes are found across the country,” Narango said. “But a gingko that you plant in D.C. and a gingko that you plant in L.A. are doing the same thing for bird conservation — nothing.
“By using native plants, we can provide food for not only our common North American species, but we’re also providing vital stopover habitat and resources for migratory birds during their perilous journeys.”
More than 80 percent of land in the U.S. is privately managed and conservationists are trying to get a handle on the ways human-dominated landscapes threaten wildlife, and how they can be managed in a way that can help.
“Urbanization is one of the primary ways we’re losing natural habitat around the world, and it remains essential that we figure out how we minimize our impacts while maximizing the protection of biodiversity,” said Pete Marra, director of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and co-author of the paper.
The study was conducted in partnership with the University of Delaware and funded by the National Science Foundation. It relied on data collected by landowners participating in the Smithsonian’s Neighborhood Nestwatch program, a citizen-science program that engages communities in monitoring the annual survival and reproductive success of specific bird species.
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Fewer birds in your backyard? Your landscape choices may be the reason - pennlive.com
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