Nature Notes: "Are Native Animals More Important Than Nonnative Animals?" And What About the Plants?

by Marcia Hanscom

This week I attended an interesting event about wildlife in a downtown Los Angeles park - the Grand Park - a landscaped, mostly concrete, public space tucked in between the Los Angeles County courthouse, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' sanctum and Los Angeles City Hall.   While improvements to this space that are welcome include open restrooms on a Friday evening, a remodeled and larger Starbucks that stayed open later than before the "park" was completed, a beautiful, lighted fountain and plenty of seating so people could gather to talk and connect, had I not known I was going to the "Grand Park" - I would never have called this public space a park. Still, it was functional and a very interesting space to hear three experts and an educated moderator provide their perspectives on wildlife in the city of LA.  The title:  "Does L.A. Appreciate its Wild Animals?"

Frankly, I've been longing for this public conversation for decades.  Zocalo Public Square was the sponsor, and we heard from a City of Los Angeles wildlife specialist, Greg Randall; the California director of the National Wildlife Federation, Beth Pratt; and an environmental educator from the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, Lila Higgins, who is as enamored with terrestrial invertebrates as I have become.  Moderating the program was Kathryn Bowers, an author who loves nature and who will be on the Zocalo Public Square staff now, so this special evening I've awaited so long seems to be only the beginning of a dialogue that is long overdue. 

While the focus was on wildlife, a theme that was discussed throughout the evening was whether or not native plants are important to the thriving of wildlife in Los Angeles.  In fact, a question from a student from Leo Politi Elementary School helped highlight the issue when she asked, "Are native animals more important than nonnative animals?"   Out of the mouths of babes.

This question touches on one of the most interesting and evolving topics in an urban/wildlife interface such as what we have in Los Angeles.   Native vs. Nonnative:  animals and plants.  

The Great Blue Heron, a year-round native resident, is a majestic and charismatic bird that stands so tall that Henry David Thoreau once suggested this species be given citizenship.  These native birds are currently nesting in the Ballona Valley in nonnative Monterey Pine trees (native to the Monterey Peninsula, but not to Los Angeles) and Eucalyptus trees (native to even further away Australia).  So, are these nonnative trees important to be removed?   Not necessarily, say wildlife biologists who are observing and documenting more and more of our native wildlife using nonnative plants and trees for their shelter, nesting and even food sources.  

One of our largest butterflies in Los Angeles, the elegant and beautiful Anise Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio zelicaon) offers another conundrum.  The female of this species oviposit (lay eggs) only on plants in the Apiaceae family which includes Parsley, Fennel and Dill.  Unfortunately, the native plants in this family are extirpated from the area, so until (and unless) the native species in this family are brought back, there are wildlife biologists who feel we must tolerate the nonnative Fennel, which is considered a very invasive nonnative plant and a species that California Native Plant Society volunteers have spent many, many thousands of hours attempting to remove from the Los Angeles area landscape.   When the caterpillar of this butterfly emerges from the eggs, it is the Fennel that it needs for survival.  Do we want to lose the Anise Swallowtail Butterfly from our region?

Even with these obvious challenges that beg to be considered in an area that has specialized in importing exotic plants from other parts of the world for many decades, there is still the desire to bring back native plants to the landscape.  The speakers at the Zocalo gathering agreed that, while each case is one that needs careful consideration - and most importantly, that one can not say "native is more important than nonnative" - returning to our native heritage in terms of plants - and animals - is desirable.  Why?  

Because so many of our native wildlife still do prefer the native plant species that they evolved with.   And, of course, in the sub-tropical climate we find ourselves in here on the southern California coast, limited water supply helps to nudge us toward exploring native plants.   With native plants we can save water, save energy (because of the energy it takes to import, store, treat and deliver water from northern California to Los Angeles homes), and we (both the individual ratepayer and the government) can, thus, save money as well.  And, we might just help a native animal species thrive better, since these native plants and animals did evolve together for many more years than humans have been living here.

© 2013, Marcia Hanscom & Ballona Institute