GNOME News- March 2010 by White Bull1876

Great Natives of Midwestern Ecotype

March 2010 Edition

V o l u m e 1 8 , Is s u e 1

Great Natives Of Mid-western Ecotype

March 1, 2010

GNOME N EWS THE BIG PICTURE:

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

New Energy Begins to Bloom Plant Profile

Native on the Net

Best Books

Organization Spotlight

Native News

Planting with a Purpose

Butterfly Gardening

Invasives!

Fantastic Fauna

Focus on the Future

Did you know... •

•

That Montana’s Glacier National Park only has 27 glaciers left, versus 150 in 1910? That the five “Bloom Box” servers installed at Ebay run on 100% renewable gas and have saved the company $100,000 since being installed in July?

Take a closer look at the big picture. At first you might think “That is so cool!” or “I can see Chicago!” But I mean take a closer look. Really what you are looking at is a perfect illustration of the “haves” and “have nots”. Africa, with almost double the population of the US, is a pretty dark place at night. Electrical power for most locations throughout the world comes from an electrical “grid”. The power for much of this electricity is fossil fuel based. Infrastructure of the grid is very important, which is why poorer countries often inconsistent electrical service. Now, imagine how laptops or cell phones reinvented how we think about mobility and communication. Think about an energy source that could be dropped into a location no bigger than a parking space with enough electricity to power 100 homes. Oh– did I mention it doesn’t need to be hardwired to the grid? Enter Bloom Energy…

The Earth At Night The “Bloom Box” was unveiled in California on Wednesday, February 24th. Originally designed for Mars space missions, it is a revolutionary fuel cell primarily made of sand– that’s right- sand. The fuel cells are what is called solid oxide. Made from inexpensive materials, they are highly energy efficient. They can run on a variety of fuels,

including “green” energy from solar and landfill gas. While home versions are still almost 10 years away, commercial versions have already been installed in businesses like Google and Ebay. The potential for these “energy servers” to reinvent how the world uses energy is promising. They are sure to make the world a brighter

GNOME’S MISSION Great Natives Of Mid-western Ecotype (GNOME) is an organization focused on the preservation and expansion of native floral and faunal species. The mission is to provide a netbased forum where mem-

bers can share their passion, plans, ideas, and questions with other people having a common interest.

1. Join our facebook group at

You can participate in many different ways.

3. Visit or link to the website 4. Pass on the newsletter.

http://www.facebook.com/ group.php? gid=45643568296

Submit articles, pictures, stories, or plans for publication.

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Panicum virgatum- Switch Grass Voters at the Name That Native page last month nailed this one. 100% of votes cast were for Panicum virgatum- commonly called Switch Grass. While usually considered a “prairie” plant, the original range extended over much of the United States.

“If I keep a green bough in my heart, then a singing bird will come” ~Chinese Proverb

This native grass grows to a height of between 3-6 feet. It is clump forming and is one of the dominant grasses of tall grass prairies, able to withstand summer dryness and heat.

Grass is important for that reason. Leaf hopper and leaf miners also will feed on the foliage of this plant. The seeds of this plant are eaten by many types of birds. Young plants are eaten by many mammals as well.

This grass blooms in the midsummer months. These blooms have been called “and airy panicle of spikelets.” Color of the inflorescence is usually reddish purple. They become tan when seed matures.

Switch Grass is being investigated as a potential bio-fuel. It can produce more alcohol per acre than corn, and is perennial and would not need to be planted each year as corn does.

The list of faunal associations is long. The Panicum spp. are larval hosts to the skipper butterfly family. Many of these interesting, and often unnoticed butterfly populaSwitch Grass provides great winter cover tions are in decline, so Switch

I find this plant a nice backdrop for prairie forbs. It can be aggressive and spreads both through seeds and rhizomes, so planning is important before planting. It’s lighter green leaves and erect form are both positive features.

for wildlife!

NATIVE

ON THE

Sometimes wading through sites looking for good resources on native information is just too time consuming. This section should help!

NET This site is mainly devoted to bluebirds, but other songbirds – especially beneficial insecteating ones– are represented as well.

This month’s featured site is : Bluebird Nest boxes/Pros & Cons http://www.sialis.org/ nestboxproscons.htm

This particular page highlights the pros and cons of many bird house types– both those commercially available and those with plans to create yourself.

I happened across this site when looking for tree swallow house plans. I had to modify the Kinney house plans for standard lumber and they are now on the site as well. You still have time to get a house (or build one) before spring and enhance your habitat for those beneficial feathered friends! Check it out!

B E S T B O O K S – B O TA N I C A N O R T H A M E R I C A Botanica North America: The Illustrated Guide to Our Native Plants, Their Botany, History, and the Way They Have Shaped Our World by Marjorie Harris is not your normal encyclopedia. This heavy book (almost 700 pages) contains text and photos that will inspire even the most stubborn gardener to go native!

While I guess this is surely considered a reference book, I have found few that read like this one. While the detailed plant information is accurate and informative, the lore behind these plants is amazing. The book itself is organized into 10 regional sections with keystone species highlighted in each one. Over 400 species are represented from across North America.

I have many native plant books and this one is on my wish list simply for the anecdotes related to the native plants. More of a coffee table book, it is a bit pricey and also not common in libraries (I interlibrary loaned one). But it is the most comprehensive source for native plant lorehands down!

As if the pictures weren’t enough, the info is better!

G N O M E N ew s

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O RG A N I Z AT I O N S P O T L I G H T : THE TRUST

FOR

The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Taken from their “About Us” mission statement page on their website-

http://www.tpl.org This is a national organization that has many functional ties in the Midwest. While conservation is an important part of what the TPL does, the main focus of this organization is not to exclude people from natural

PUBLIC LAND places, but to help preserve and create places specifically for people to go. This provides a vital connection to nature that few organizations can match. Parks that are easily accessible to people– especially those in metropolitan Bringing nature and people together! areas are a large part of the bigger plan of the TPL. Reclaiming places like rundown buildings and vacant gas Today’s economy might actustations, the TPL buys the land, ally be helping. “People are removes unusable structures looking to unload those propand puts in pocket parks that erties and conservation is the benefit people and wildlife. By beneficiary," said TPL's presiparks, they are not referring to dent Will Rogers. mowed expanses of grass. NatuCheck out their site for more! ral settings are the standard.

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”

NATIVE NEWS:

INVASIVES AND CLIMATE CHANGE The woodlands that Thoreau walked and wrote about aren’t what then used to be. In the 150 years since he meticulously documented the native flora at Walden Woods in the 1850s, the temperature has risen 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit, 27% of those plants have become locally extinct, and another 36% are so sparse that extinction may be immanent.

PLANTING

Harvard scientists did a study starting with the plant records for Walden Woods created by Thoreau until present times. Their findings suggest that those plants best able to adjust their annual activities like flowering and fruiting thrive during climate changes. "These results demonstrate for the first time that climate change likely plays a direct role in promoting non

WITH A

-native species success," says author Charles C. Davis, assistant professor in Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

~Henry David Thoreau

He went on to state that nonnative and invasive plants are the climate change winners. He hopes the study results will help in developing models to assess threats of future invasives.

PURPOSE:

GRASSROOTS GREENPRINTING You may have known for years that improving your yard with native plants is not only a good thing to do, but the right thing. If only your neighbors or community would see it that way! Greenprinting is a relatively new term, but it is one your should know and get involved with. Greenprinting is the creation of conservation scenarios that help communities make informed conservation decisions.

By asking questions like “What do we want our community to look like in 50 years?”, we can be proactive. Such proactive planning is “taking conservation out of the emergency room,” says Will Rogers of the TPL mentioned above in the Organization Spotlight. Greenprinting often uses Geographic Information System software (GIS) to put together layers (see right) and is used to guide growth management efforts.

So, how does this apply to you? Awareness and education are keys to progress. It might be something as simple as emailing city council members to inform them of greenprinting. Perhaps you know of like-minded people that belong to a native plant society or conservation group that would offer to work with municipalities in this planning process. The bottom line is that action means being active. Greenprinting might provide one avenue to make a difference!

Above is and example of how different aspects come together for positive planning purposes.

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THE COMPLETE BUTTER FLY GAR DEN : BY

CIRSIUM

Most articles on butterfly gardening focus on plants that attract butterflies by providing nectar to adults. But nectar is only a small part of what butterflies need. Some species of butterflies, for example, don’t use flower nectar. So how do we find out what butterflies need? And how do we encourage them to spend more time in our gardens? If we invited all of our local butterflies to a round table discussion on butterfly needs and wants, what would they say? This article will focus on answering those questions. First, we need to briefly explore the life cycle of the average butterfly. It starts with the female laying an egg on a host plant. After a few days that egg hatches and a caterpillar is born. The caterpillar dines on the host plant and rapidly grows to its full size in two to three weeks. Then two amazing transformations occur. First the caterpillar transforms into a pupa. And after a week or two, a mature full size adult butterfly emerges from this pupa. It’s that wonderful story of metamorphosis that we all learned about in school. The adult butterfly’s life span is typically only about two to four weeks. During that time it attends to its nutritional needs, mates, and begins the cycle anew. With that understanding of the butterfly life cycle and the notes from the butterfly round table discussion, several important butterfly needs become apparent:

A NEW PERSPECTIVE FROM

THE WILDLIFE GARDENERS

plants for your butterfly garden, you will need to know which butterflies are in your area. You could do this with a good butterfly book for your area, but it would require a good deal of work sorting out all the butterflies. Fortunately, there is a much easier online source for this information. Simply go to this website and click on your state. Scroll down the page and you will see a list of all the butterflies that have been documented in your state. You can even select your county from the state map and narrow the list down to just those butterflies that have been documented in your county.

Painted Lady on Rough Blazingstar

When you click on the butterfly names in the list, you’re taken to a page with photos and information on that butterfly. One of the categories of information is “caterpillar hosts”, but don’t rely on this particular information. On this website they do 2. not distinguish between native and invasive exotic plants; they lump them all together. The native 3. plants are great choices, but the invasive plants will ruin your butterfly garden and your landscape. Every butterfly has at least one native host plant. Check other sources for host plants, and be sure to verify 4. Nectar – for some species that the ones you select are native plants in your 5. Non-nectar foods – for other spearea. cies Another nutritional need for many of your butterflies is natural minerals. Some species of but6. Winter shelter terflies cannot become sexually mature without 7. A pesticide-free environment these minerals. You’ll often see natural minerals referred to as “mineral salts”. But this can be misHost plants are one of the most imleading; “mineral salts” is a chemical term used for portant butterfly needs. Unfortunately, these many different chemicals. It is not the same as the plants are often overlooked when designing a common understanding of salt. You’ll often see this butterfly garden. Butterflies select their species- misunderstanding leading to the recommendation of specific host plants by chemical signal receptors adding table salt to butterfly feeders, etc. Butterflies on their feet and antennae. These chemical don’t need the addition of table salt, and it may even signals tell the female butterfly that this is the be harmful to them. All of the natural minerals that right plant to place her eggs on. She knows that they need are already in the soil. The butterflies only this plant is the right plant to supply all the nutri- need access to exposed moist soil. If there is a natutional and ecological needs of her caterpillars. ral body of water nearby, you need do nothing more. Each butterfly species has a regular group of If there isn’t any nearby source of moist soil for plants for host plants. For the Monarch it’s milk- them, you can make one by digging a shallow hole, weeds (Asclepias species), for the Pipevine Swal- lining it with something that holds water, and then lowtail it’s pipevines (Aristolochia species), for refilling it with soil. Moisten it periodically to keep it the Great Spangled Fritillary it’s violets (Viola wet, but avoid having a lot of standing water. species), etc. A few species of butterflies can Nectar plants might seem to be a very use a wide selection of host plants; the Painted easy and straight-forward item to supply for a butterLady, for example, can use over a hundred differ- fly garden. Most butterfly gardening articles focus ent plant species. Now to get the right host almost exclusively on this topic. But there are important considerations that are often overlooked. First, 1.

Host plants (or as the butterflies like to call them, “Life Plants”, since their species cannot exist without them) The butterfly garden must to be designed for your local butterflies Natural minerals – for nutritional needs; and sexual maturity in some species

the garden should be designed for a continuous bloom. Select plants that bloom in continuous succession from early spring to late fall. Avoid selecting double type and hybrid flowers if you can. These types of flowers are often poor nectar sources. Don’t worry about the often cited “landing pad” type of flower heads. The meadow blazingstar (Liatris ligulistylis) is one of the all time favorite butterfly nectar plants, and it has no landing pad. And don’t forget that many of your native host plants will do double duty as excellent nectar sources. For those butterflies that rarely or never use flower nectar, such as the Mourning Cloak, Commas, Tortoiseshells, Admirals, Little Wood Satyr, Common Wood-Nymph, Red Spotted Purple, etc., host plants provide the best opportunity to attract these butterflies to your garden. These butterflies feed on tree sap, carrion and dung (gross to us maybe, but not to some butterflies). If you provide a good habitat for all wildlife, these butterflies will find what they need for their nutritional requirements. You can try making a feeder for these types of butterflies if you wish. They will use it. Just place some overripe fruit (rotting is actually best) in a shallow container or dish and keep it moist with some fruit juice. Placing it in a partly shady location will keep it from drying too fast. Winter shelter is a topic that is rarely discussed in butterfly gardening articles, but it is quite important. All butterfly species have to survive the winter in some form to carry on the species from year to year. Some species will overwinter as eggs, some as caterpillars, some as pupae and some as adults. Eggs, caterpillars and pupae will be fine on their own as long as their resting places are not destroyed. This is the perfect excuse for “untidiness”!! Leave those stems standing for the winter – there may be a pupae attached to it. Don’t burn those leaves and old stems – there may be a caterpillar hiding in it. Don’t – well, you get the idea. For those that overwinter as adults, brush piles, wood piles and dead trees with loose bark are all winter havens. One thing that doesn’t work for butterflies is “butterfly houses”. If a butterfly ever tried to get into one, it would probably become spider food. Pesticides kill “bugs”; and butterflies and their caterpillars are “bugs”. There may be a nice big picture of a pest that you want to get rid of on the product label, but these chemicals kill all kinds of insects. Read the fine print on the label some time to see how destructive these chemicals really are. There is no “butterfly safe” way to use these insecticides; if you want butterflies, you just have to avoid using them. Hopefully, this article has provided you with a new perspective on butterfly gardening. A perspective from the butterfly’s point of view. Ideas that you can use in your garden for your butterflies. A butterfly garden designed with these ideas in mind will not only attract more butterflies for you to see, but it will become a butterfly producing garden as well. Which, of course, will provide even more butterflies for you to enjoy. This article was reprinted with the permission of Wildlife Gardeners. All rights reserved.

If you would like more information on butterfly gardening, or would like to ask some questions about butterflies or host plants, please check out the forums at Butterflies, Moths, & Hummingbirds - Wildlife Gardeners - North American Wildlife Gardening.

G N O M E N ew s

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I N VA S I V E S THE FERAL PIG Pig Bomb! I had to stop at the title of the Discovery Channel show while flipping through the channels. It turns out that it was all about feral pigs in the United States (and surprisingly interesting). Sus scrofa is known by many names– feral pig, wild hog, wild boar, razorback, Russian and European boar.

Feral hogs are omnivores. They will eat about anything they can fit in their mouth. Herds of these animals are capable of rooting up 100s of acres in a matter of a few days. They are also aggressive and will attack people. Coloration of these animals varies greatly. They usually have a long hairy tail and “mane”. Tusks protrude from lower jaws and can be over 4 inches long.

Domestic pigs came to North America with the first Spanish explorers. They were both intentionally and accidentally released to create the first freeranging feral pigs. These have hybridized with imports from Germany’s Black Forest and Russian boars introduced on hunting preserves over the past century. The past decade has seen the population boom to 4 million.

Blue= Areas present

They are also very adaptable and can live almost anywhere. They are a threat to crops, native flora and fauna, and cause widespread habitat destruction. I hear they taste great! :)

F A N TA S T I C F A U N A : T H E T R E E S W A L L O W Tachycineta bicolor are migrants that begin to appear in early spring. They often form loose small flocks during the day while migrating. At night they will often form large groups called a gulp or flight of swallows. The adults are iridescent blue above and white below. They have a short black beak and long wings. Younger birds are similar in appearance, but are more brown than blue. These birds are cavity nesters. Nests are usually made in excavated holes in living or dead trees near water. They will also readily take to man made structures, including nest boxes. Nesting begins in late April or early May. The female does the majority of nest building. The exterior of the nests are constructed of rootlets, mosses, and grasses. The inside is then lined with feathers from other birds. During nesting season, tree swallows are highly territorial. Both the male and female will defend

an area with a radius of about 50 feet around the nest site. These birds are amazing fliers. Their primary food source is flying insects making them a desirable species to have around. These are caught while flying. To bathe, they fly down and skim the surface of the water and then elevate and shake the water from their feathers. They also love to preen in the rain, using it like a shower. While only the males sing, both sexes use calls to communicate. At least 14 different calls have been identified at this point.

“One swallow does not make a spring, nor does one fine day” ~Aristotle

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E-mail: GNOME.Native@gmail.com

Great Natives of Mid-western Ecotype (GNOME) is an organization focused on the preservation and expansion of native floral and faunal species. The mission is to provide a netbased forum where members can share their passion, plans, ideas, and questions with other people having a common interest in native species.

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Got an article? Now accepting member submitted news and photos! Once you have something to share, send it to the email listed at left. Monthly news articles will, of course, give credit to the contributor. Everyone welcome!

Invasives p.7- http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/publ/ wlnotebook/pig.htm

Fantastic Fauna p.7-http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/ accounts/information/Tachycineta_bicolor.html Fantastic Fauna p. 7- http://home.comcast.net/~sgosser/ TreeSwallow.jpg

Invasives p.7- http://www.wildlifemanagementpro.com/wp-content/ uploads/2008/05/texas-feral-hog-regulations.jpg

Complete Butterfly Garden p.6- http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/ index.php?pageid=article_completebutterflygardener Invasive Map p.7- http://www.hunter-ed.com/wildlife/ wildlife_specific_images/wildlife_maps/wild_pig_r_map.jpg

Native News p.5- http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2010/02/100203111626.htm Planting with a Purpose p.5- http://ssnds.uwo.ca/ sscnetworkupdate/2006winter/images/gis.jpg

Name That Native p.4- http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/ switchgrass.htm

Big Picture- http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20000091-248.html

Big Picture Photo- http://www.slaverysite.com/earthlights2_dmsp_big% 20-%20nasa%20picture%20from%20space%20%202000%20Adjusted% 20Cropped.jpg

Pictures

References

Articles

FOCUS

ON THE FUTURE

News of Arizona pulling out of the Western Climate Initiative (a coalition of states and provinces committed to reducing green house gas emissions) made me wonder why global climate change doesn’t seem to be more of an issue to many. There just doesn’t seem to be any urgency to remedy this disastrous occurrence. Sure, people might change a few light bulbs or recycle their plastic water bottles or pop cans if it is convenient, but why isn’t the global impact something that is considered in every action of our daily lives? It is sort of like a leaky faucet. A faucet might drip, drip, drip for days, weeks, or months. It becomes one of those things that is on the “to do” list, but gets put off again and again. Now if that were a geyser coming from the handle, you know someone would be on the phone with a plumber within minutes.

famous of these occurred on June 22, 1969. But why is this story of river history important? Because it took an unbelievable event like this to make people understand that rivers so polluted that they were flammable are not good. Never mind that they had been that way for almost a century… The good that came out of it was the Clean Water Act of 1972. So what is it going to take for people to want to fix the drip? The cumulative effect of the drip may greatly outweigh the momentary geyser. That is where we are at with climate change. It seems we always need a wake up call. We need a cataclysmic disaster to increase awareness of issues that have been “dripping” for years. Have you ever heard of the Cuyahoga River Fires? This river was so polluted that it literally caught on fire multiple times. The most

Climate change is a global issue not likely to have a single manifestation that creates the kind of awareness that will unify world actions. That means that we are all responsible to stop our own drips. We need to approach this with the same frugality that our country had during the World Wars- as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.