What is Ecological "Value"? 🌳

One of the most common phrases you’ll hear in native-forward gardening is “ecological value.”

Although the phrase offers tidy, simple language, it can be argued that it oversimplifies the limitless, intertwining environmental factors that occur in nature. The phrase may sound like you can apply some kind of numerical value to how worthy a plant is for your landscape, which in reality is impossible! Let’s get into it…

Firstly, the base sentiment of the term “ecological value” is totally valid in that certain plants absolutely can support more long-term ecological function than others. For example, we know that Oaks (Quercus spp.) support more butterfly and moth caterpillar species than any other plant genus in the eastern U.S. regions. Goldenrods, asters, and sunflowers are also considered powerhouse families for ecological value. But there are endless ways that a plant can support local ecology, so it can get difficult to truly measure plants up against each other. How many specialist relationships does this plant support? How many food-web interactions? How many nesting species does it support? And that brings us to the question: how does your “ecological value” differ from the next person? Supporting butterflies tends to be the most marketable “ecological value” because humans tend to get the most joy from seeing them around. At its core, the phrase depends on the eye of the beholder.

But even more pertinent is that ecology is deeply relational. There are limitless, intertwining environmental factors. Not every native planting automatically becomes a bustling habitat. Not every non-native planting becomes an empty, ecological void. If a Carolina Wren family moves into that boxwood, what’s its ecological value now? Matured non-natives have head starts on newly planted things, so while they may not offer the optimal ecological function, they can still offer established infrastructure that is already supporting the critters in a multitude of ways. Recognizing this kind of nuance doesn’t suddenly flatten all plants into equals. Native species are still the gold standard for a reliable, dependable path toward supporting local food webs. And invasive plants should still be diligently avoided.

The main point of all this is that your landscape will never be able to be power-ranked into a spreadsheet. And don’t let the idea of “ecological value” draw you away from the idea of ~the more, the better~ More blooms. More nesting. More relationships. More busy. Magic occurs when your landscape becomes an ecologically-rich system functioning as something larger than the sum of its individual plants…