Riparian Native Plants
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WHAT ARE NATIVES? For specific recommendations and advice about project ABOUT THE NATIVE PLANTS FOR CONSERVATION, Native species evolved within specific regions and dispersed design, consult a landscape or garden design specialist with RESTORATION AND LANDSCAPING PROJECT throughout their range without known human involvement. experience in native plants. This project is a collaboration between the Virginia Depart- They form the primary component of the living landscape ment of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Native and provide food and shelter for native animal species. Plant Society. VNPS chapters across the state helped to fund WHAT ARE NON-NATIVE PLANTS? Native plants co-evolved with native animals over many the 2011 update to this brochure. Sometimes referred to as “exotic,” “alien,” or “non- thousands to millions of years and have formed complex and indigenous,” non-native plants are species introduced, The following partners have provided valuable assistance interdependent relationships. Our native fauna depend on intentionally or accidentally, into a new region by humans. throughout the life of this project: native flora to provide food and cover. Over time, many plants and animals have expanded their Many animals require specific plants for The Nature Conservancy – Virginia Chapter • Virginia ranges slowly and without human assistance. As people their survival. Tech Department of Horticulture • Virginia Department of began cultivating plants, they brought beneficial and favored Agriculture and Consumer Services • Virginia Department species along when they moved into new regions or traded of Environmental Quality, Coastal Zone Management BENEFITS OF NATIVE PLANTS with people in distant lands. Humans thus became a new Program • Virginia Department of Forestry • Virginia Using native species in landscaping pathway, enabling many species to move into new locations. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries • Virginia Native reduces the expense of maintaining Department of Transportation cultivated landscapes and minimizes WHAT ARE INVASIVE PLANTS? the likelihood of introducing new invasive Invasive plants are introduced species that cause health, species. It may provide a few unexpected economic or ecological damage in their new range. More benefits as well. than 30,000 species of plants have been introduced to Native plants often require less water, fertilizer and the United States since the time of Columbus. Most were Plants pesticide, thus adding fewer chemicals to the landscape introduced intentionally, and many provide great benefits for Conservation, and maintaining water quality in nearby rivers and streams. to society as agricultural crops and landscape ornamentals. Restoration & Landscaping Fewer inputs mean time and money saved for the gardener. Some were introduced accidentally, for example, in ship ballast, in packing material and as seed contaminants. Of Native plants increase the presence of desirable wildlife, these introduced species, fewer than 3,000 have naturalized such as birds and butterflies, and provide sanctuaries for and become established in the United States outside these animals as they journey between summer and winter cultivation. Of the 3,500 plant species in Virginia, more than habitats. The natural habitat you create with native plants 800 have been introduced since the founding of Jamestown. can become an outdoor classroom for children, or a place The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for you to find peace and quiet after a busy day. currently lists more than 100 of these species as invasive. Native plants evoke a strong sense of place and regional In the United States, invasive species cause an estimated character. For example, live oak and magnolia trees are $120 billion in annual economic losses, including costs to FOR MORE INFORMATION strongly associated with the Deep South. Redwood trees manage their effects. Annual costs and damages arising Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation characterize the Pacific Northwest. Saguaro cacti call to from invasive plants alone are estimated at $34 billion. Natural Heritage Program mind the deserts of the Southwest. 804-786-7951 www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/nativeplants.shtml NATIVE PLANTS VS. INVASIVE PLANTS BUYING AND GROWING NATIVE PLANTS Invasive plants have competitive advantages that allow More gardeners today are discovering the benefits of them to disrupt native plant communities and the wildlife FOR A LIST OF NURSERIES THAT PROpaGATE native plants and requesting them at their local garden NATIVE SPECIES, CONTACT: dependent on them. For example, kudzu (Pueraria montana) centers. Because of this increased demand, retailers are Virginia Native Plant Society grows very rapidly and overtops forest canopy, thus offering an ever-widening selection of vigorous, nursery- 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2 shading other plant species from the sunlight necessary for propagated natives. Boyce, VA 22620 their survival. A tall invasive wetland grass, common reed 540-837-1600 | [email protected] Once you’ve found a good vendor for native plants, the (Phragmites australis ssp. australis), invades and dominates www.vnps.org next step is choosing appropriate plants for a project. One marshes, reducing native plant diversity and sometimes of the greatest benefits of designing with native plants is eliminating virtually all other species. their adaptation to local conditions. However, it is important FOR A LIST OF NURSERIES IN A paRTICULAR Invasive species can marginalize or even cause the loss of to select plants with growth requirements that best match REGION OF VIRGINIA, CONTACT: native species. With their natural host plants gone, many conditions in the area to be planted. The Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association insects disappear. And since insects are an essential part 383 Coal Hollow Road If you’re planning a project using native plant species, of the diet of many birds, the effects on the food web Christiansburg, VA 24073 use the list in this brochure to learn which plants grow in become far reaching. Habitats with a high occurrence of 540-382-0943 | [email protected] your region of Virginia. Next, study the minimum light and invasive plants become To search for species in VNLA member catalogs, visit: moisture requirements for each species, noting that some a kind of “green www.vnla.org/search.asp plants grow well under a variety of conditions. Many of the desert.” Although recommended species are well-suited to more than one of green and healthy ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY OF these categories. in appearance, THE FLORA OF VIRGINIA PROJECT. far fewer native For more information, refer to field guides and publications Illustrators: Lara Gastinger, Roy Fuller species of plants on local natural history for color, shape, height, bloom times and Michael Terry. To learn more, visit: and animals are and specific wildlife value of the plants that grow in your www.floraofvirginia.org found in such region. Visit a nearby park, natural area preserve, forest or Virginia Riparian Buffer Zones radically altered wildlife management area to learn about common plant places. associations, spatial groupings and habitat conditions. 9/2011 Recommended Uses W = Wildlife Virginia Riparian Buffer Zones • The canopy created by riparian forests provides shade and H = Horticulture & landscaping controls water temperature, which is essential for instream C = Conservation & restoration organisms and the invertebrate food sources on which they D = Domestic livestock forage depend. Instream, leaf litter and woody debris create food and Riparian forest buffers are areas of trees, shrubs and other habitat vital to the aquatic food web. Region vegetation found next to stream channels and other waterways. M = Mountain The removal of these buffers has contributed to ecological • Riparian forests provide food and habitat for a variety P = Piedmont problems in our waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Problems of terrestrial wildlife species and serve as safe corridors C = Coastal Plain include sedimentation, nutrient and toxic chemical pollution, and for movement between habitats. Habitat conversion and reduction of fish habitat. fragmentation have reduced wildlife habitat and limited the Minimum Light Requirements ability of animals to move between existing habitats. S = Shade Riparian forest buffers are natural communities such as P = Partial sun bottomland hardwood forest, coastal scrub and upland oak- • Riparian forest buffers offer recreation to fishermen, hunters, F = Full sun hickory-pine forests. They support a variety of plants and animals, birders, hikers, canoeists and picnickers. People enjoy these particularly plants that are adapted to periodic flooding or areas in many different ways because of the diversity of life Moisture Requirements saturated soils. Because of the presence of moving water, more and scenic beauty they provide. L = Low moisture M = Moderate moisture materials are deposited in, and pass through, riparian forests than Drier upland forests adjacent to waterways provide many of the H = High moisture any other wetland ecosystem. same ecosystem values. These ecological functions combine Riparian forest buffers provide important ecosystem services. to make riparian forest buffers critical to ecological and human Riparian Buffer Zones health. Recognizing this, staff at the Chesapeake Bay Program has 1 = Emergent • Vegetation, leaf litter and porous soil slow the flow of water. set a goal to replant riparian buffers