[MAIPC] thoughts on defining native vs. non-native plants and agriculture vs ecological systems

[Richard Gardner]

http://www.slideshare.net/rtgardner3/palta-2016 - is a summary of the essence of a presentation I gave at PALTA 2016 this past Saturday.

The two basic concepts contained are a redefining of native vs. non-native and that Ag needs to be transformed from ecological deserts into viable parts of functioning ecological systems to permanently provide food for the world. Land trusts can take the creative leadership in this transformation.

As I think about the definition of a native vs. non-native plant, one issue that keeps coming up is ecological utility. My definition of a native is more nuanced than the standard pre-1492 definition. Human hybridized plants and domesticated plants are not native as they are not a part of the (slow) natural system of change. By hybridizing a plant, fewer native organisms utilizing the plant will be able to adapt to the changes in the plant due to hybridization compressing hundreds or thousands years of change into a few years. Domesticated plants on the other hand lose their natural heterogeneity (and robustness) by the process of domestication. This heterogeneity is necessary to match the heterogeneity of organisms (pollinators, herbivores, ... ) using the plants as resources. As humans come in all sizes, shapes, colors and other traits so do individuals in all other species. This heterogeneity needs to be matched with heterogeneity in the resource plants. Non-robust plants cannot be expected to be a consistent ecological resource.

                                                                                                                                                                                                 Richard Gardner