CONDON’S CORNER

“Invasives” Reality Check: Negative Impacts on Biodiversity Negligible

[Published March 1, 2025, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia, and The News Virginian, the daily newspaper of Waynesboro, Virginia. ] 

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © 2025 Marlene A. Condon All Rights Reserved 

What appears to the inexpert eye to be “plant invasiveness” is actually plant succession, whereby alien pioneer plants better suited to growing well in the disrupted soil conditions created by man—as seen taking place here—have moved in to refurbish a razed natural area.   

A native Northern Cardinal finds sustenance by consuming the seeds from an Asian Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) tree in the author’s yard on a fall day.

Before writing this article, I saw yet another discussion on social media about woods being cleared for more development. In Charlottesville and Waynesboro over the past few months, I’ve been stunned by the absolutely enormous areas of red clay made visible by bulldozers pushing down trees and other kinds of plants. And I’ve wondered how, in the face of all this destruction of natural areas, does anyone believe the most pressing problem for our wildlife can possibly be “invasive” plants?

 

This abundance of development makes completely clear what the biggest problem is for the environment: too many people on the planet—8.2 billion and increasing every moment. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

 

Although discussing our booming numbers is considered impolite, if not taboo, it's vital for folks to be made aware of the ensuing consequences of human overpopulation.

 

According to WorldAtlas.com (a site that provides content about the environment and other subject matter), human exploitation of resources —e.g., overhunting, overfishing, and poaching endangered species—is responsible for a 37% loss in wildlife biodiversity. Habitat degradation and alteration accounts for a further 31.4% loss, with complete habitat loss being responsible for another 13.4%. These three causes comprise the major reasons for wildlife depletion at almost 82%.

 

But what is the most publicized explanation for wildlife losses? So-called “invasives”. Yet “invasive” species rank fifth out of the seven major causes of decline in wildlife populations worldwide, accounting for only 5.1% of the loss in biodiversity. As this category includes nonnative animals, I suspect that nonnative animals are the real problem rather than nonnative plants. Non-native animals compete for space (habitat), whereas all plants provide environmental services that assist wildlife. Only in rare instances might alien plants be problematic, such as in wetlands.

 

Isn’t it time to focus on problems that are far more impactful and solvable than removing “invasive” plants that do assist wildlife to survive in degraded areas? Cats, for example, are estimated to kill 1.3-4.0 billion birds and 6.3 -22.3 billion mammals annually in the United States.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380

 

If people truly care about our wildlife, why has it been impossible to eliminate this longtime threat to our critters? The answer: Thanks to vocal proponents of letting both pet and feral cats roam freely, people are reluctant to take on this battle.

 

Whether it’s a private individual who doesn’t want to make his neighbor angry, or politicians who worry more about votes than doing what’s right for the greater good (wildlife keeps the environment running properly), people find it easier to kill plants. And, of course, they themselves may even agree with allowing cats outside.

 

Then there are the many other aspects of human lives that people simply don’t want to change. Blaming plants you don’t care about might be preferable to shutting off your outdoor lights that, during warm weather, attract insects that should be mating, such as moths that have declined precipitously,

 

Some folks give little thought to all the animals they kill while driving and thus don’t limit their trips out and about even though they could with better planning. They should also consider the pollution of the soil and water caused by runoff of the gas and oil that collects on roadways and parking lots.

 

And you might think people would care about the pollution caused by vehicle exhaust, a leading cause of climate change that affects both wildlife and people. You can drive by any public school in your area before classes begin or end and see a long line of cars waiting to get into or out of the school grounds, even though buses drive by or close to these people’s homes twice a day.

 

Another serious threat to wildlife is the use of pesticides around homes and businesses, not to mention the pesticides employed in the war on so-called invasive plants.

 

You can, as an individual, help stem the loss of wildlife by giving serious consideration to the actions listed above and limiting how much you participate in them. If you truly care about the future of the Earth and our lives upon this planet, you should step up to the plate.

 

Contact local politicians and make them understand the need to pass a law that demands that cats be kept indoors. It should go without saying that anyone who truly cares about these animals wouldn’t want them to be outside in cold weather (they originated in warm-climate areas) and to be exposed to the dangers outside, such as being run over by a vehicle or sickened by disease.

 

The problems are many, but obvious and fixable. We just need folks to stop focusing on the 5% (alien plants and animals they see as “weeds” and “vermin”, respectively) and start focusing on the 95% (everything else) that truly damages the environment, leading to a great loss of biodiversity.

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PART SEVEN

[Published January 9, 2025, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia]

Conclusion—Nature, Man, and God: The Trinity for Life

 ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © 2024 Marlene A. Condon

A fallow field full of wildflowers supports a huge variety of critters essential to our own lives but is viewed by most folks as a wasteland of “weeds” (unwanted plants).

The natural world is currently viewed by most people as if it is expendable. This happens, unfortunately, when people become more “civilized” and thus no longer directly interact so much with nature. Over time then, they lose touch with how essential it is to their lives.

 

Indeed, a goodly fraction of people feel that if land is not developed or somehow utilized by humans, then that land is wasted. They see no value whatsoever in land conserved mainly for the benefit of wildlife.

 

But, if you don’t landscape in a manner that mirrors the natural world and supports an abundance of wildlife, you are turning a blind eye towards the appropriate relationship of man to nature. God gave the planet Earth to man, and in its God-given (i.e., natural) state, it served as a pristine haven that provided a source of nourishment for the body and soul.

 

Man was not required to change, modify, or “correct” in any way this holy gift. All he had to do was to take care of this wondrous benefaction by living by the rules that governed it. In other words, he had only to obey the laws of nature.

 

Is all of this to say that we should not use our ingenuity to live with less hardship? No, it is not. However, we do need to transform our lives to live more simply. To accomplish this change, we must first humble ourselves so that we may determine what is truly meaningful and necessary for our existence upon the Earth. Then we can more easily implement how best to both fit in with, and impact less, the natural world.

 

For example, by keeping our immediate environment in a more natural state, as we should, we would cause less air, water, and soil pollution because there would be less mowing, weed-whacking, and leaf blowing. By limiting our use of energy to that which is truly vital to our wellbeing, such as heating homes in the dead of winter or cooling them during summer heat waves, we would conserve natural resources and curb harm to the environment.

 

Yes, this is a call to live less extravagantly, but not less comfortably. Sensible limitations are neither too burdensome nor too restrictive, especially when you consider how much they lessen your impact upon the planet. If everyone took better care of the Earth, scientists wouldn’t need to figure out how to get people to Mars and then somehow create a habitable environment on a celestial body not at all conducive to human existence.

 

Today, too many folks think wrongly about the natural world and about how to live their lives in relation to it. This attitude must change, even if you do not believe that God exists. It is simply common sense to conserve resources, and to follow the dictates of Mother Nature, if you will.

 

Be inspired by nature to live in harmony with it and you will find peace of mind. The nature revelation of God’s existence is hard to dispute: Nature, man, and God are inextricably entwined, making up the trinity for life not only to exist, but to persist.

Man’s development of the environment should always take the needs of wildlife into account by leaving natural areas nearby.

TOMORROW, PART EIGHT:

 Epilogue: Why You Should Believe the Thesis of This Treatise

 

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The Home Garden: A Primer in Dysfunction

Pillbugs (also known as Roly-poly Bugs or Woodlice), are often found underneath flower pots. They are not insects, but rather, land crustaceans. Their function in the environment is to help recycle dead plant and animal matter, which is why you see them in association with planter pots. Yet, extension offices often refer to them as “pests” and tell gardeners to get rid of them! Ignorance of the true roles of our fellow life forms endangers the proper functioning of the environment that supports all of us.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

From 2002-2014, I gave monthly talks each summer in Shenandoah National Park. Most of the questions after each talk were from gardeners wanting to know how to prevent the trouble they encountered with this animal or that one.

 

At first this situation puzzled me. I’d gardened throughout my adult life and never encountered these many problems. I puzzled over it following each presentation, until I realized people had these difficulties because they ignored the fact that their gardens exist in the natural world. Thus, you have no choice but to follow natural laws, as I had always done.

 

Unfortunately, folks don’t like that answer. They want to continue doing their gardening in whatever manner they please, as if the natural world is going to bend to their will. Except it won’t. And therein lies the reason gardeners who ignore my philosophy (as they would see it; I see it as presenting a fact of life) are doomed to rant forevermore about various kinds of wildlife that are problematic for them.

 

So, let’s look at just a few of the “truisms” in gardening lore that not only make unnecessary work for the gardener, but are also detrimental to wildlife and the environment.

 

As summer draws to a close and fall arrives, gardening experts issue the same axiom year after year: Clean up your garden to keep pest problems at a minimum. However, if you have a yard that’s wildlife friendly, this task is totally unnecessary. It deprives many organisms of needed winter food and cover, and over time, bankrupts the soil nutrition available for growing plants.

 

While it’s true that some insects overwinter as adults or eggs in plant stalks, it’s also true that many animals will find these insects and eat them. Wrens and woodpeckers will come to bird feeders to get sunflower seeds, but they mainly subsist upon insects all the year around. They can be in big trouble if we have a harsh winter with lots of snow. But, if you leave plants standing, especially tall ones, these birds gain a better chance of surviving because they may find insects or their eggs on the stems rising above snow level.

 

Deer Mice also eat insects. While you probably care more about birds than these mammals—thinking all rodents are “pests”—consider that mice help to replant our forests and grasslands. They are Mother Nature’s gardeners, carrying seeds back to their nests and dropping some along the way that may then grow where they fell.

 

It’s easy to overlook the fact that every creature does its part to keep the other parts of the ecosystem functioning properly, but humans need to recognize this actuality. Even though you don’t want mice in your house, you should certainly welcome them outdoors, and not only because they are inadvertent gardeners. Mice are a prime food source for owls, foxes, and coyotes.

 

A gardening myth is that you must keep your plants totally “bug-free” to keep them healthy. Healthy plants can withstand a few insects chewing or sucking on them. Remember, plants exist to feed animals (“Marlene’s Axiom”). There’s no need to run for insecticide at the first sign of a few six-legged critters, especially as many of these insects will be eaten if you’ve created a yard that welcomes predators.

 

For example, many gardeners worry about aphids, yet they are unlikely to cause significant damage in a yard full of birds. Hummingbirds, especially, require such tiny insects to obtain protein and fat for good health. Remove aphids and you remove a significant food source for these energetic creatures.

 

You’ve probably also heard that you shouldn’t allow your plants to go to seed. According to Penn State Extension: “When dead blooms are left clinging to flowering plants, they sap the nutrition and strength from the core of the plants and rob them of the energy to produce new and colorful blooms.”

 

https://extension.psu.edu/to-deadhead-or-not-your-final-answer-is

 

Nonsense! A plant’s ultimate “goal” is to reproduce, so it’s well adapted to making seeds and continuing to bloom (if in its DNA) and grow each year. Spend time deadheading (removing all “spent” blooms) and you perform busywork that deprives your local wildlife of seeds.

 

Lastly, anywhere you plan to cover bare ground with mulch, you should instead let some “weeds” grow. They serve as your natural mulch. Rather than stealing water, they keep the ground shaded to prevent moisture loss, and many turn into lovely flowers that provide beauty for the gardener, nectar for hummingbirds, butterflies, and/or numerous other kinds of insects, and possibly seeds for birds and small mammals when left standing throughout fall and winter.

 

Save time and energy by gardening in a more relaxed manner, and you’ll help our wildlife while you’re at it. Your reward will be the opportunity to watch nature at work instead of you!

 

 NATURE ADVICE:

 

Instead of taking away the fallen leaves of woody plants, you really should rake them around the main stem and out to the limit of the plant’s branches. Shrubs and trees provide their own mulch free of charge. The leaves they drop are Mother Nature’s way of returning “borrowed” nutrients to the soil (when the leaves decompose) from which they came.

 

If you prefer the look of woody mulch, keep the spent leaves and just place the woody mulch over them. But remember: The woody mulch needs to decompose (all organic matter is supposed to be recycled in nature), so if you see mushrooms or other kinds of fungi growing upon the mulch, leave them be! They won’t be visible long, and these decomposers are doing their job of returning nutrients to the soil so you don’t need to spend money, time, and effort fertilizing your growing plants.

 

Helping Nature Shouldn’t Be Against the Law

The south side of the author’s nature-friendly yard is filled with plants, providing habitat for a huge variety of wildlife that includes mice and the native Eastern Woodrat. Does a yard like this threaten anyone’s health, safety, or general welfare? Absolutely not.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

Over the years, many folks have asked for my assistance when they’ve tried to do what’s right for the natural world and run head-on into government regulations. Unfortunately, it’s hard to fight City Hall if you don’t have a large group of citizens willing to speak out for the cause of “nature justice”.

 

I’m hoping that at some point, environmentalists will stop waging useless wars (on so-called invasive plants, for example) and start fighting for realistic changes that can truly make a difference for our natural world. In cities and towns, and in many rural subdivisions, regulations are put into place to control the appearance of the developed area and they are highly detrimental to wildlife. Yet very few people fight against this government overreach that is based upon a lack of knowledge.

 

Under the heading, “Tall Grass and Weeds” at the website for Harrisonburg, Virginia, you will read that “Whenever grass, weeds, brush or other foreign growth attains a height of twelve (12) inches or more, it shall be presumed to threaten the health, safety and general welfare of residents of the City.”

 

https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/tall-grass-weeds

 

Under the heading “Unlawful growth of weeds and other vegetation” at the Charlottesville, Virginia, website, you’ll find that “All weeds existing in violation of this section are hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance.”

 

http://vtod.frec.vt.edu/Documents/Charlottesville.pdf

 

Citizens of these two cities can be fined for disobeying these ordinances. But nature has gotten a bad rap. When left to its own devices in developed areas, wildlife habitat is viewed as overgrown, messy, and a place that will assuredly attract undesirable critters that carry disease (i.e., rats and mice), referred to as “vermin”. But does this picture accurately depict natural areas?

 

The answer is a resounding, “NO”. Mice and rats exist because they fulfill crucial roles in the functioning of the environment. Mice are Mother Nature’s gardeners that also practice natural plant control, and rats are part of her cleanup crew.

 

When mice carry seeds back to their nests and drop some along the way, they help plants to spread, which is vital for the perpetuation of wildlife habitat. When they feed upon the seeds they collect, mice limit the numbers of plants in an area, thereby preventing overcrowding of the plants, which ensures their good health.

 

Rats can be called opportunists that will feed upon just about anything edible they can find, such as dead animals, fresh and rotting fruits and vegetables, and seeds. Without them, the environment would not be cleared as quickly of decaying organic matter.

 

Are humans likely to catch diseases from mice and rats in a natural area located near people? It’s highly unlikely unless you handle one of these critters, which everyone should know better than to do. It’s your responsibility to teach your children not to touch dead animals, just as you must teach them not to cross the street without looking both ways first and not to stick their fingers into an electrical outlet.

 

So why is there so much fear about this issue? It’s because people don’t employ rational thought when considering their relationship to the natural world. Instead of behaving responsibly, they instead want to kill wildlife doing its job.

 

If you don’t seal your house to keep wildlife outside, and if your house is dirty with food crumbs on floors and furniture, you are going to attract animals to clean up after you. If you come into contact with saliva, urine, and/or droppings from disease-infected rats and mice, you may well become infected. You also need to avoid getting bitten.

 

The smartest strategy for preventing exposure to rodent diseases is to seal all entries to your home to the best of your ability and to minimize food sources that attract these animals in the first place. If you feed birds, only put out as much seed as will get taken each day (mice and rats are active mainly at night).

 

Nature-friendly landscaping around your house will invite the variety of creatures that keep your environment working properly. Owls, hawks, and foxes—all of which are well habituated to urban/suburban areas—can help to limit rodents, but they require habitat.  Whatever you do, don’t employ poisons of any sort. They are inhumane, causing intense suffering, and they kill any critter that feeds upon a dying poisoned animal.

 

It’s the height of silliness for local ordinances to limit the height of plants in a yard, and to speak of tall plants as threatening to the health and safety of citizens. If you reside in an area governed by outmoded thinking about our wild plants and animals, please speak against it.

 

NATURE ADVICE: 

It’s important for people who care about the environment to try to join with others of like mind to change laws that negatively affect it. One way to accomplish this goal would be to send a press release to the local newspaper to let folks know of your plans. Libraries and other public spaces often allow use of their meeting rooms at no cost for noncommercial purposes. Weed ordinances perpetuate prejudiced ideas that are invalid. Let’s get some justice for nature!

Tallamy’s Talking Points Miss the Point

Tiny Hover Flies in the author’s yard in Virginia flock to Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) for food in November. This “invasive” flowering plant is one of the last to hold blooms that serve as a lifeline for insects out and about on warm, late-fall days.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

A friend sent me a link to a YouTube video of a presentation for the Santa Clara (California) Native Plant Society by Doug Tallamy.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esNIhiWWr84

His basic message continues to be that the best way to save birds is via caterpillars, which he expects you to accomplish by landscaping your property with native woody plants.

 

The problem with Professor Tallamy’s directive is that it’s simplistic at best and destructive at worst. He ignores a whole host of injurious human activities to focus on the one (gardening) that may be the most palatable to people to act upon (because they enjoy this hobby), but it's actually the least helpful for the perpetuation of wildlife. 

 

And although Dr. Tallamy avoided mentioning pesticides in his talk to Californians who are presumably more sensitive (and thus more enlightened) to the pernicious effects of putting these chemicals into the environment, he has previously made clear his support for employing them to get rid of so-called invasive plants that he mistakenly believes have “pushed out” native plants. [Please see “Invasion Biology: Perception Trumps Reality”, posted here on October 6, 2020.]

 

In other words, Doug Tallamy’s talking points miss the point; he’s not going after the real obstacles to maintaining insect and bird numbers, but rather is trying to get folks to apply a band-aid that will not make much difference. Even if everyone on the planet landscaped only with native plants, it still wouldn’t increase the populations of caterpillars and birds because a dearth of native plants is not the main reason for the dearth of caterpillars. The main reason there are so few caterpillars (the larvae of moths and butterflies) is due to the ubiquitous lights found in human environments.

 

Most of the caterpillars you’re likely to spot are immature moths, and what do many of them do nowadays as adults? Instead of mating to perpetuate the species, many spend the night flying around outdoor lighting along streets, in parking lots, and around homes and businesses where they are more easily caught and consumed by owls and bats. They also will remain on the outside surfaces of windows in which nothing blocks indoor lighting from escaping. When moths don’t get a chance to mate, caterpillars are not created.

 

When Dr. Tallamy penned his first book, he showed a nighttime composite photo of the United States that he employed to point out “the extent to which we have converted natural areas to developed landscapes”, rather than discuss the real danger illustrated in that picture: lights! Thirteen years later, he’s finally come to recognize the danger posed by lighting, but does he suggest that the Californians listening to his program shut off unnecessary lights and employ curtains or blinds to shield their glow from insects outside? Nope. His answer is to keep the lights burning! Just use yellow lights that are less attractive to insects.

 

Of course, keep unnecessary lights on and you are especially guilty of contributing to the warming of our climate. However, global climate change is somehow not high on Doug Tallamy’s list of environmental concerns, even though a real problem for many insects nowadays is that—thanks to warmer winter temperatures—they are active in months when they should be hibernating. With nary a bloom in sight, they can’t feed to replace the energy they are using. Run out of energy reserves and you die.

 

Then there’s the lawn. While showing a photo of a house with a humongous lawn, he blithely tells folks to just get rid of half of their lawn, as if wasting the remaining 50% of the sizable amount of land in the photo would be acceptable. Why doesn’t he tell folks that a manicured lawn—dosed at regular intervals with deadly chemicals and kept “weed-free” (i.e., no flowers, such as dandelions, for butterflies, bees, etc.) doesn’t help our wildlife? After all, aren’t the people listening to him supposed to be ones who care about doing what’s right by the environment? Or are native-plant folks flocking to his lectures only because he’s the spokesman for their raison d’être?

 

At the end of his presentation, the Santa Clarans were able to ask questions. One person wondered if it was okay to grow a close relative of a native plant instead of the actual plant native to California. Professor Tallamy’s answer? You should be more concerned with the function of a plant in the landscape rather than its origins—even though neither he nor nativists (people who prefer to see native plants being grown by gardeners) will ever make this statement when discussing purportedly invasive plants.

 

Doug Tallamy’s overall message perfectly meshes with the current push by native-plant societies to get rid of many alien-plant species. But, as exemplified above, this effort is contradictory. Everyone knows that when calling a plant “native”, it’s not supposed to have been imported from somewhere else. Yet plenty of nativists want to have it both ways, and Doug Tallamy isn’t going to incur their wrath by disagreeing with them.

 

Lastly, Tallamy has a bad habit of making comparative evaluations of both plants and animals. He has no problem denigrating the animal species he doesn’t believe are as “valuable” as caterpillars, and he implied that 85% of native plants are essentially useless because they “aren’t supporting that much in terms of food webs”. Of course, this suggestion is ludicrous.

 

First, as every creature exists for a reason (otherwise, evolutionarily speaking, it wouldn’t be here), it’s an improper concept to posit that some kinds are more valuable or important than others. Second, and perhaps more critically, people are already overly prejudiced against many lifeforms, which is hugely detrimental to the environment. It’s hard enough to get people to accept nature in its entirety without having an authority figure convincing them to favor some kinds of animals/plants over others.

 

If you listen to Doug Tallamy or read his books, I highly recommend you employ serious critical thinking. This scientist’s training is in entomology and it shows. He espouses a worldview that is far too narrowly focused, disqualifying him as a spokesman for the environment in its entirety.

 

NATURE ADVICE: 

With global climate change already occurring, consider growing nonnative plants that bloom as early as March and are still blooming in November (the Common Dandelion is a cheery flower that will bloom even in winter sometimes if it’s in a sunny spot and the temperature is warm enough). Many of these plants may be classified as “invasive weeds”, but they are crucial for assisting a variety of insects to survive the current conditions on Planet Earth.