How to Fix the Biodiversity Crisis Right Where you Live
Pyrobombus bumblebee on a late-season bee balm in Lafayette. Image by Casey Lyons
Here’s a modern riddle: How many species can occupy the same place at the same time?
Many, right? But if one of those species is humans, the number hits the skids. That’s the takeaway from a story in yesterday’s New York Times that showed, in graphic form, the biodiversity crisis that’s roiling human habitat. And folks, the Front Range is in the red.
Before I lose you, read one more sentence: Biodiversity is the raw material of evolution – as such, it’s a good soft indicator of the resilience of our ecosystems and the health of the areas we live in; if we want to live in a healthy world, we need to support the wild lives around us (link: Coal Creek Lives survey on iNaturalist).
The primary threat here is habitat loss through development or the climate crisis. The Front Range is developing with a fury. But there’s also good news: You can do your part to address the biodiversity crisis and you can start today, right where you live.
“Join the trowel revolution this spring by adding native plants to your garden.”
Plants form the basis of pretty much all life on our planet. They convert sunlight into sugar and air into their bodies. Insects, animals, and fungi all make use of that energy or those bodies. This is the basic alchemy of Earth.
So the simplest way to support the Earth is to support plants, and especially native plants, which support native insects and native animals in complex associations that are thousands of years old (or older) and are the structure of life. Long story short: Plant natives.
Friends of Coal Creek is currently in training to become a Pollinator Advocate with the Butterfly Pavilion in Broomfield. The idea is to sing the praises of the beauty and function of native plants so as to bring life back to the places around our yards.
Go outside on a summer day and observe a perfect-green turfgrass lawn. You won’t see many insects, but you’re looking at a landscape of opportunity. With a native-friendly plan, these places can become the urgent care centers of biodiversity. We just have to roll up our sleeves and get to the triage.
Later this spring, we’ll be publishing a series of articles on how to use native species in your gardens. This will put the Coal Creek corridor and beyond at the vanguard of species support. And we can do this important work right around our homes. It is almost too easy to make a difference that’s easy to see.
Looking out over a native landscape, the air will seem alive with the motion and industry of insects swapping pollen from plant to plant. This exchange is how nature meets the moment of change. We humans have taken a lot; this is how we can start giving a little bit back. Join the trowel revolution this spring.
