Doug Tallamy believes every homeowner should do their part to protect native plants that grow in their yard.
Tallamy, an entomologist and co-founder of , said 44 million acres of lawn in the continental United States do not support local biodiversity, which can harm wildlife. His Massachusetts-based non profit works to educate people about the dangers of perfectly-manicured American lawns and invasive plants.
鈥淚t's a different form of littering, we tend to landscape our yards with plants from other countries,鈥� Tallamy told 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 鈥淲here We Live.鈥� 鈥淚n the Northeast, it's largely plants from Asia."
"The problem with that," he said, "is they have pushed out the native plants."
Native plants can support a variety of caterpillars and insects, a co-evolved symbiotic relationship that can be beneficial for both species.
Take a classic example: monarch butterflies and milkweed. In this symbiotic relationship, the insect uses the plant to lay eggs and is a food source for monarch caterpillars. It鈥檚 an arrangement that鈥檚 been working for millions of years, according to the .
But pesticides, a need for freshly-cut grass and America鈥檚 penchant for invasive ornamental plants have broken these types of co-evolutions down, Tallamy said, filling American lawns with plants that don鈥檛 support anything.
鈥淲e're hammering the nature that supports us, that keeps us alive, that provides the life support that we all need,鈥� Tallamy said.
To help, Tallamy said homeowners should embrace more native plants and consider letting nature make its way a little bit more aggressively into your property. He recommends planting keystone trees, such as white oak or birch, and reducing the use of fertilizer and pesticides.
鈥淲e're totally dependent on life support that nature provides,鈥� Tallamy said. 鈥淭hat makes all of us responsible for supporting nature. It's just our personal responsibility.鈥�
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黑料吃瓜网's Catherine Shen and Katie Pellico contributed to this report.
