By Reba Kocher

Happy Arbor Day!

We love trees, and we love that there is a day to celebrate them. Trees help combat climate change by providing us with clean air to breathe and by absorbing CO2 and reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the air. They also raise our property values and can help reduce energy costs in our communities (Read More Here). Trees are amazing, and we should do our part to protect them and plant more!

While this is a day for celebrating trees and all they give to us, it is important to first get into some of the not so happy parts. Professor Doug Tallamy from the University of Delaware in a webinar, which you can access HERE, explains that only 5% of the United States can be “left as they are” to promote the growth and livelihood of native plants, insects, and animal species. We have also brought at least 3,300 non-native plants into our country. Because of this, it is our duty to spearhead environmental stewardship, and plant native plants. Native plants will attract native insects which will in turn attract native animal species. This is a huge and important part of saving our environment. A great way to do that, if you are able, would be to plant oak trees. As you may know, caterpillars have specific host plants that they eat. For example, monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed. There aren't many other insects that can eat milkweed. For oak trees however, over 900 caterpillar species all over the country can feed on oak trees! You may be thinking that as the resident Moth Girl I am bringing this up because of my own obsession with Lepidoptera, but this is actually not the case! Caterpillars are EXTREMELY important to the success of our native animal species. Caterpillars capture energy from plants by eating the plants and then animals, like birds, get this energy from eating caterpillars. Caterpillars eat more plant material than any other herbivore. They are essential to the food web. In this webinar, Professor Tallamy cites a study that shows that 16 out of 20 bird families are bringing their fledglings caterpillars to eat. This means that if there are no caterpillars around 80% of bird families will have failed reproduction. Caterpillars are so important because they are soft, unlike other insect species, they are high in fats and proteins, and most importantly they are the best source of carotenoids for birds. Vertebrates are unable to produce carotenoids but we need them to boost our immune systems. This is why as humans we eat leafy greens. We can only get carotenoids from plants, which is why caterpillars are such an important part of the food web. This brings us back to oak trees. Oak trees are so important because they provide us with clean air and every other benefit that all trees give us, but they also promote our caterpillar populations. At Clary Gardens, we are hoping to plant more oak trees to help our native insect and animal populations. We will be doing an acorn drive to collect tons of acorns for planting! If you have acorns to give, we will be collecting them at the Clary Gardens garage.

How are you planning to celebrate Arbor Day? Do you and your family have any Arbor Day traditions?