Oaks, asters and 6 other ‘keystone' native species to plant for biodiversity
Even planting just one keystone plant in the yard or in a container will help restore biodiversity on your property.
Here are eight of the most important trees and plants that Tallamy, author of the new book, 'How Can I Help?', recommends (find a complete list for your ecoregion at https://homegrownnationalpark.org/keystone-plant-guides/.)
Top keystone trees
__ Oaks (Quercus spp.): Best in the 84% of the U.S. counties in which they occur.
__ Native willows (Salix): Best farther north.
__ Native Cottonwood (Populus): Best in drier regions.
__ Native cherries (Prunus): Very important nationwide.
__ Native plums (Prunus): Very important nationwide.
__ Goldenrod (Solidago)
__ Perennial sunflower (Helianthus)
__ Aster (Symphyotrichum)
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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Garden: Black knot disease prevalent on cherry and plum trees
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Forbes
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Plastic Bag Bans And Fees Can Reduce Shoreline Litter, Study Finds
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Los Angeles Times
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Plastic bag bans seem to work, at least when it comes to shoreline pollution
Researchers find that nationwide policies to ban plastic bags may be paying off, with fewer showing up during coastal cleanups. Ever since their invention in 1959, plastic bags have become synonymous with shopping. For many people, it's difficult to imagine a quick grocery run without the crinkle of a plastic bag, and even harder to believe that using an alternative could make a meaningful difference in reducing plastic pollution — but a new national study suggests that, in many places, it already has. A 2021 global survey found that plastic bags accounted for 14% of 12 million marine litter items gathered during beach cleanups — making them by far the most common type of trash in the study. They're lightweight, rarely recycled, and easily caught and transported by winds, making them especially likely to end up in waterways, where they can persist for decades. 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Although the study found that there were relative decreases in plastic litter as a result of both bans and fees, the magnitude of the decrease was larger for fee-based policies compared with full bans and especially partial bans, which were least effective. This suggests that how a policy is designed may matter as much as whether it exists at all — a key insight for lawmakers hoping to craft effective environmental legislation. California's history of efforts to curb plastic waste serve as a prime example of this finding. With the passing of Senate Bill 270 in 2014, which barred the use of single-use plastic shopping bags in many retail settings, California became the first U.S. state to enact a plastic bag ban. Although this ban initially reduced plastic bag litter, it only prohibited the use of bags thinner than 2.25 millimeters, permitting grocery stores and large retailers to charge for thicker plastic bags and ultimately leading to an unexpected jump in plastic bag waste. This is reflected by California's 2021 Disposal Facility-Based Waste Characterization study , overseen by CalRecycle, which reported that plastic bag waste rose to 231,072 tons in 2021 from 157,385 tons in 2014 — a nearly 47% increase. 'It was a nasty loophole,' said Meredith McCarthy, the senior director of community outreach and partnerships at Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based nonprofit that organizes coastal cleanups and advocates for plastic reduction policies. 'I think a lot of people were thinking: 'Wait, we banned it? And now we use more? How is that possible?'' Even so, McCarthy, who's spent 20 years monitoring trends in plastic pollution on Los Angeles beaches, said that even this imperfect policy has helped implement a noticeable change. 'It's almost rare now to find a plastic bag,' McCarthy said. The study also found evidence that plastic bag laws may reduce harm to marine life: in areas with bag policies, there was a 30% to 37% reduction in entangled animals relative to areas without such laws. Although the researchers caution that these findings are imprecise, in part because of the fact that we don't fully understand how wildlife interacts with plastic bags compared with other shoreline litter, the results do point to a potential environmental benefit of regulating single-use plastics. In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1053 , banning all single-use plastic bags statewide. In theory, starting Jan. 1, 2026, such bags will disappear entirely from checkout lines altogether — meaning customers in California will need to use a reusable bag, pay for a paper bag, or hand carry their purchase. California's new ban won't solve the plastic problem overnight, but this research shows that the right kind of policy — one with stricter laws and fewer loopholes — can make a measurable difference. Want proof? Just head to your nearest beach.
