Native species

Last updated September 04, 2023

Large-leaved lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus): native to western North America but introduced and invasive in several areas worldwide Mainelupin.jpg — Large-leaved lupine ( *Lupinus polyphyllus* ): native to western North America but introduced and invasive in several areas worldwide

In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history.^[1] The term is equivalent to the concept of indigenous or autochthonous species.^[2]^[3] A wild organism (as opposed to a domesticated organism) is known as an introduced species within the regions where it was anthropogenically introduced.^[4] If an introduced species causes substantial ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage, it may be regarded more specifically as an invasive species.

The notion of nativity is often a blurred concept, as it is a function of both time and political boundaries.^[5]^[6] Over long periods of time, local conditions and migratory patterns are constantly changing as tectonic plates move, join, and split. Natural climate change (which is much slower than human-caused climate change) changes sea level, ice cover, temperature, and rainfall, driving direct changes in habitability and indirect changes through the presence of predators, competitors, food sources, and even oxygen levels. Species do naturally appear, reproduce, and endure, or become extinct, and their distribution is rarely static or confined to a particular geographic location. Moreover, the distinction between native and non-native as being tied to a local occurrence during historical times has been criticised as lacking perspective, and a case was made for more graded categorisations such as that of prehistoric natives, which occurred in a region during prehistory but have since suffered local extinction there due to human involvement.^[7]

A native species in a location is not necessarily also endemic to that location. Endemic species are exclusively found in a particular place.^[8] A native species may occur in areas other than the one under consideration. The terms endemic and native also do not imply that an organism necessarily first originated or evolved where it is currently found.^[9]

Ecology

Native species form communities and biological interactions with other specific flora, fauna, fungi, and other organisms. For example, some plant species can only reproduce with a continued mutualistic interaction with a certain animal pollinator, and the pollinating animal may also be dependent on that plant species for a food source.^[10] Many species have adapted to very limited, unusual, or harsh conditions, such as cold climates or frequent wildfires. Others can live in diverse areas or adapt well to different surroundings.

Human impact and intervention

The diversity of species across many parts of the world exists only because bioregions are separated by barriers, particularly large rivers, seas, oceans, mountains, and deserts. Humans can introduce species that have never met in their evolutionary history, on varying time scales ranging from days to decades (Long, 1981; Vermeij, 1991). Humans are moving species across the globe at an unprecedented rate. Those working to address invasive species view this as an increased risk to native species.

As humans introduce species to new locations for cultivation, or transport them by accident, some of them may become invasive species, damaging native communities. Invasive species can have profound effects on ecosystems by changing ecosystem structure, function, species abundance, and community composition.^[11] Besides ecological damage, these species can also damage agriculture, infrastructure, and cultural assets. Government agencies and environmental groups are directing increasing resources to addressing these species.

Conservation and advocacy

Native plant organizations such as the Society for Ecological Restoration, native plant societies,^[12] Wild Ones, and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center ^[13] encourage the use of native plants. The identification of local remnant natural areas provides a basis for this work.

Many books have been written on the subject of planting native plants in home gardens.^[14]^[15]^[16] The use of cultivars derived from native species is a widely disputed practice among native plant advocates.^[17]

Importance of nativity in conservation

When ecological restoration projects are undertaken to restore a native ecological system disturbed by economic development or other events, they may be historically inaccurate, incomplete, or pay little or no attention to ecotype accuracy or type conversions.^[18] They may fail to restore the original ecological system by overlooking the basics of remediation. Attention paid to the historical distribution of native species is a crucial first step to ensure the ecological integrity of the project. For example, to prevent erosion of the recontoured sand dunes at the western edge of the Los Angeles International Airport in 1975, landscapers stabilized the backdunes with a "natural" seed mix (Mattoni 1989a). Unfortunately, the seed mix was representative of coastal sage scrub, an exogenous plant community, instead of the native dune scrub community. As a result, the El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) became an endangered species. The El Segundo blue butterfly population, which had once extended over 3200 acres along the coastal dunes from Ocean Park to Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes,^[19] began to recover when the invasive California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) was uprooted so that the butterflies' original native plant host, the dune buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium), could regain some of its lost habitat.^[20]

Related Research Articles

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation. It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife garden</span>

A wildlife garden is an environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals and so on, and are meant to sustain locally native flora and fauna. Other names this type of gardening goes by can vary, prominent ones being habitat, ecology, and conservation gardening.

The El Segundo blue is an endangered species of butterfly. It is endemic to a small dune ecosystem in Southern California that used to be a community called Palisades del Rey, close to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Eriogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing. It includes some common wildflowers such as the California buckwheat.

Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interruption and action. Ecological restoration can reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change and support local and global economies.

The need for a clearly defined and consistent invasion biology terminology has been acknowledged by many sources. Invasive species, or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats. Invasion biology is the study of these organisms and the processes of species invasion.

The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly is a subspecies of flower-loving fly, a member of the genus Rhaphiomidas in the Mydidae family. It was the first fly added to the Endangered Species List in the United States.

Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value.

Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden.

A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or livestock. Most noxious weeds have been introduced into an ecosystem by ignorance, mismanagement, or accident. Some noxious weeds are native. Typically they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls, and display adverse effects through contact or ingestion. Noxious weeds are a large problem in many parts of the world, greatly affecting areas of agriculture, forest management, nature reserves, parks and other open space.

Smith's blue butterfly, Euphilotes enoptes smithi, is a subspecies of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. This federally listed endangered subspecies of Euphilotes enoptes occurs in fragmented populations along the Central Coast of California, primarily associated with sand dune habitat in one case with a dune-based Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest in the Carbonera Creek watershed in Santa Cruz County. The range of E. e. smithi is from Monterey Bay south to Punta Gorda.

Eriogonum parvifolium is a species in the family Polygonaceae that occurs on dune formations in the coastal area of Central and Southern California. This evergreen shrub grows to a height of 30 to 100 centimeters with a spread of approximately the same dimension. This plant is an important host for a number of pollinating insects including certain endangered species. E. parvifolium occurs both on bluffs along the Pacific Ocean coast as well as Coastal Strand dunes formations, but is restricted to altitudes below 700 meters. In at least one instance within the Carbonera Creek watershed, it occurs farther inland in a Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest. This shrub is also known by the common names dune buckwheat, coast buckwheat, cliff buckwheat, or seacliff buckwheat.

Apodemia mormo langei, the Lange's metalmark butterfly, is an endangered North American butterfly. It is a subspecies of the Mormon metalmark and belongs to the family Riodinidae. The butterfly is endemic to California, where it is known from one strip of riverbank in the San Francisco Bay Area. A 2008 count estimated the total remaining population at 131 individuals. Since 2011, this number has dropped to about 25–30.

Eriogonum cinereum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names coastal buckwheat and ashyleaf buckwheat.

Euphilotes rita, the rita blue or desert buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916.

Euphilotes battoides, the square-spotted blue or buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.

Invasive species in Mexico are a major cause of biodiversity loss, altering ecosystems, affecting native species, damaging environmental services and public health, and causing economic losses. An invasive species is one native to a particular area that has been introduced into a new habitat, adapting and altering to suit its new conditions.

Euphilotes bernardino, the Bernardino blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916. It is found in North America.

Eriogonum elongatum, commonly known as longstem buckwheat or wand buckwheat, is a species of wild buckwheat native to coastal southern and Baja California.

References

↑ "Executive Order 13112". 2008-05-15. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
↑ "What are native plants?". University of Rhode Island. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
↑ "Autochthonous". Merriam-Webster Dictionary . Retrieved 16 January 2019.
↑ "Introduced species". Science Daily. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
↑ Levin, Phillip S; Poe, Melissa R. (2017). Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean: Interdisciplinary Science in Support of Nature and People. Academic Press. ISBN 9780128092989.
↑ Aitken, Gill (2018). A New Approach to Conservation: The Importance of the Individual through Wildlife Rehabilitation. Routledge. ISBN 9781351163545.
↑ Lemoine, Rhys T.; Svenning, Jens‐Christian (2022-03-03). "Nativeness is not binary—a graduated terminology for native and non‐native species in the Anthropocene". Restoration Ecology. 30 (8). doi:10.1111/rec.13636. ISSN 1061-2971. S2CID 246251260.
↑ "Endemic" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
↑ Indigenous, Aliens and Invasives Envirofacts
↑ Tallamy, Douglas W. (2007). Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens. Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-854-9.
↑ "Point Reyes National Seashore, Drakes Estero, A Sheltered Wilderness Estuary", National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, p. 16.
↑ "Native Plant Societies". nanps.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
↑ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center". Wildflower.org. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
↑ Stein, Sara (1993). Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards. Houghton-Mifflin. ISBN 9780395709405.
↑ Wasowski, Andy and Sally (2000). The Landscaping Revolution: Garden With Mother Nature, Not Against Her. Contemporary Books. ISBN 9780809226658.
↑ Tallamy, Douglas W. (2020). Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press. ISBN 978-1604699005.
↑ ""Nativars" Courtesy of Watermarkwoods.com". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
↑ Travis Longcore, Rudi Mattoni, Gordon Pratt, and Catherine Rich, "On the perils of ecological restoration and the El Segundo blue butterfly", in press, for 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California. Occidental College, April 18-19, 1997 Online.
↑ "Black, S. H., and D. M. Vaughan, "Species profile: Euphilotes battoides allyni, El Segundo Blue", Red List of Pollinator Insects of North America. CD - ROM Version 1 (May 2005). Portland, OR: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. (2005)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
↑ ""California's butterflies: The El Segundo Blue", Quino Checkerspot Captive Breeding Program, Vista Murrieta High School. O line". Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-09-29.