Comments on: Nonnative Plants: Ecological Traps?

By: Wildlife Gardening: Don’t Forget the Neighbors : Wildlife Promise

Wildlife Gardening: Don’t Forget the Neighbors : Wildlife Promise — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:24:43 +0000

[...] only did I make some early bad decisions about cultivating nonnative plants—later corrected—I did not plan ahead to consider how my neighbors might react to the [...]

By: Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog – Links – February 8, 2013

Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog – Links – February 8, 2013 — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:05:30 +0000

[...] National Wildlife Federation has Nonnative Plants: Ecological Traps? [...]

By: Laura Tangley

Laura Tangley — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:10:00 +0000

That’s true . . . thanks, Sarah. A discussion of why Asian honeysuckle leads to increased predation is included in the article this blog was based on. Make sure to read the story . . . lots of great info., including research conducted by Doug Tallamy on nonnative plants and decreased caterpillar (bird food!) diversity.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:08:00 +0000

Also, an important point that is not stated here is that Asian honeysuckle is an ecological trap because it causes Northern Cardinals to nest earlier because it grows foliage earlier than native plants in Ohio. Wildlife uses ques such as plants growing leaves as a sign to start breeding and building nests. Asian honeysuckle therefore attracts Northern Cardinals and other birds earlier. They build nests that are easily predated on since it is less concealed, meaning there is no other foliage to cover the nest site. Other predators can easily find nests by following the Northern Cardinals or discovering the nest through poor concealment. Just imagine one bush that is green with leaves in a forest where no other trees or plants have sprouted leaves. Also by nesting earlier than normal and having clutches fail, Northern Cardinals expend more energy than they would have than if they built at regular seasonal cues. Over time, this may effect the overall health of the Northern Cardinal and future clutches so that they continue to fail.