Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
3,357
result(s) for
"Native plant gardens."
Sort by:
Caterpillar survival in the city: attack rates on model lepidopteran larvae along an urban-rural gradient show no increase in predation with increasing urban intensity
Growing native plants in urban gardens is often promoted as a possible means of increasing lepidopteran populations. However, the efficacy of such efforts has not been well studied. Lepidopterans vary widely in their ability to survive in cities, and the few previous studies of caterpillar abundance or biomass across an urban-rural gradient have yielded mixed results. We placed clay caterpillar models in native plant gardens to assess whether the attack rate on these models varied with degree of urbanization (percent impervious surface within 1 km radius of each garden), and whether responses differed across predator taxa. We also examined how garden characteristics (plant biovolume density, plant species richness) affected probability of attack. Overall, attack rates on these models decreased with increasing impervious surface, although predator taxa varied in their sometimes complex responses. For parasitoid wasps, which accounted for 47% of all attacks, increasing biovolume density increased attack probability at impervious surface levels below 35%, but decreased the probability of attack at higher levels of impervious surface. In contrast, probabilities of attack by both predatory wasps and vertebrates decreased with increasing percent impervious surface, but did not vary with impervious surface for ants and spiders. Predation on caterpillars in urban gardens may be lower than in rural ones; however, this potential increase in survival may be a result of declines in some predator taxa, such as predatory wasps and insectivorous birds. More studies across an urban gradient are needed to measure factors other than predation that influence caterpillar survival in gardens.
Journal Article
Eden revisited : a garden in northern Morocco
A lovingly photographed tour of internationally renowned writer Umberto Pasti's famous hillside garden in Morocco. Italian writer and horticulturist Umberto Pasti's passion for the wild flora of Tangier and its surrounding region led him to create his world-famous garden, Rohuna, where he has transplanted thousands of plants rescued from construction sites with the aid of men from the village. Planted between two small houses is the Garden of Consolation: a series of rooms and terraces with lush vegetation, some rendering homage to the paintings of Henri Rousseau, others inspired by invented characters. Surrounding the Garden of Consolation are the Wild Garden and a hillside devoted to the wild flowering bulbs of northern Morocco, where indigenous species of narcissus, iris, crocus, scilla, gladiolus, and others bloom. With its stunning vistas and verdant fields, Rohuna is a garden of incomparable beauty with the mission to preserve the botanical richness of the region. Captured here in detail by celebrated photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo, the poetic beauty of this special and unique place is lovingly rendered for all the world to see and share.
Book
\Sleep, Creep, Leap\: Gardening's Steady Rewards
\"I can't remember the last time I saw so many monarch butterflies. For the past few weeks they've been all over the asters in our yard. Walk outside our house, and you'll see them (and so much more) on the blanket flowers, the blazing stars and the zinnias. 'Sleep, creep, leap' — a gardening adage used to describe the three-year growth pattern of perennial plants — has played out at our home since the summer of 2023. In the process, my wife and I have befriended neighbors and learned to love looking outside the window.\" (Axios) In this point-of-view article, the author discusses the eco-friendly way to attract monarch butterflies.
Newspaper Article
Gardens Wild
\"Highway departments beautify roadsides by planting native grasses and wildflowers. You can have a native garden, too. A rake, hoe, and sprinkler are the only tools you need.\" (Wild Outdoor World) Learn how to select plants for a native garden and how to care for the plants.
Magazine Article
Kauai's Protected Gardens Give Endangered Species a Chance
In Hawaii, non-native plants and animals have devastated the native plants so badly that \"the Hawaiian Islands have become the country's endangered species capital\" (EARTH MATTERS). The National Tropical Botanical Garden, actually a group of five gardens and three preserves, is a haven for species that are native to Hawaii. Learn about some of the plants that are unique to Hawaii and how the National Tropical Botanical Garden preserves native plants. Visitor information is included.
Magazine Article
BOOKS; Essentials for native growers; Care & Maintenance of Southern California Native Plant Gardens Bart O'Brien, Betsey Landis and Ellen Mackey Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, $29.95
This pioneering book is all the more special for its specificity to Southern California and its bilingual English-Spanish format: Its fact-packed content -- climate, soils, watering, selection, planting, care and pests -- was penned by three local advocates representing Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (O'Brien); California Native Plant Society (Landis); and Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers &...
Newspaper Article
AUTUMN FOOD OF THE BRUSH-TAILED OPOSSUM, (TRICHOSURUS VULPECULA KERR), IN THE OTARI RESERVE, WELLINGTON
The stomach contents of 34 opossums collected from Otari reserve, Wellington, New Zealand, were examined and fragments of leaves and leaf cuticles were identified. Leaves were the main food though flowers, fruit and at least one insect were also taken. The main species eaten were kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile), pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia australis), hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus), climbing rata (Metrosideros fulgens), five-finger (Pseudopanax arboreum), tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa) and lawyer (Rubus cissoides).
Journal Article
BOOKS; Nurturing the natural
NATIVES: The lavender flowers of Douglas iris, left, bloom beneath the dusky limbs of a Baja bird bush. Above, vibrant pink buckwheat.; PHOTOGRAPHER:[Glenn Keator] and [Alrie Middlebrook]; NATIVES: The lavender flowers of Douglas iris, left, bloom beneath the dusky limbs of a Baja bird bush. Above, vibrant pink buckwheat.; PHOTOGRAPHER:Glenn Keator and Alrie Middlebrook
Newspaper Article
Exotic garden plants partly substitute for native plants as resources for pollinators when native plants become seasonally scarce
Urban green spaces such as gardens often consist of native and exotic plant species, which provide pollen and nectar for flower-visiting insects. Although some exotic plants are readily visited by pollinators, it is unknown if and at which time of the season exotic garden plants may supplement or substitute for flower resources provided by native plants. To investigate if seasonal changes in flower availability from native vs. exotic plants affect flower visits, diversity and particularly plant–pollinator interaction networks, we studied flower-visiting insects over a whole growing season in 20 urban residential gardens in Germany. Over the course of the season, visits to native plants decreased, the proportion of flower visits to exotics increased, and flower-visitor species richness decreased. Yet, the decline in flower-visitor richness over the season was slowed in gardens with a relatively higher proportion of flowering exotic plants. This compensation was more positively linked to the proportion of exotic plant species than to the proportion of exotic flower cover. Plant–pollinator interaction networks were moderately specialized. Interactions were more complex in high summer, but interaction diversity, linkage density, and specialisation were not influenced by the proportion of exotic species. Thus, later in the season when few native plants flowered, exotic garden plants partly substituted for native flower resources without apparent influence on plant–pollinator network structure. Late-flowering garden plants support pollinator diversity in cities. If appropriately managed, and risk of naturalisation is minimized, late-flowering exotic plants may provide floral resources to support native pollinators when native plants are scarce.
Journal Article