Wildflowers – vital to a healthy ecosystem but going extinct under the radar

 By Staci-lee Sherwood

The best way to enjoy wildflowers is to look and photograph but never pluck. The expression ‘look with your eyes not your hands’ still holds true.  Taking a few flowers while on a walk may seem innocent enough, but if everyone did that there wouldn’t be any flowers left to enjoy and feed the animals that depend on them.  A seemingly small act multiplied by millions of people over decades can cause extinction.  For millions of years wildflowers covered the earth long before humans roamed here.  As our species thrived and expanded to every corner of the planet we squeezed out the space for all other species.  The loss of many species went unnoticed until it was too late and for others, like wildflowers, is just now starting to gain attention.   

Healthy ecosystems start with wildflowers

Wildflowers, along with other plants, play an important role in a healthy ecosystem.  They provide food for insects and hummingbirds which in turn pollinate to help insure future generations of wildflowers.  It’s a symbiotic relationship as each depends on the other.  Wildflowers need insects to reproduce and produce nectar to attract them.  Birds feed on insects which provide a rich protein source and find them easily as they feed on nectar.  Spiders often use these flowers as a hunting ground for their food as they stalk other insects that come for the nectar. An entire lifecycle plays out every day on tiny flowers without most people even noticing.

An unhealthy ecosystem is one that has soil depleted from pesticide use, drought conditions or floods and is no longer able to sustain nutrient rich soil and clean water that wildflowers need to grow.  It’s an indication of toxicity which also affects humans.  We need a healthy clean planet to live on as much as wildflowers and plants do.  When they no longer survive it’s a message we often ignore at our own peril.  They too are the canaries of things to come.

One of the main causes for declining wildflower populations is habitat loss.  Here in Florida it seems as if every blade of grass has an expiration date as development is truly out of control.  It’s not just Florida, habitat loss is a global crisis.  Wildflowers need space, water, sun and clean air to survive and thrive.  A healthy ecosystem flourishes while a toxic one becomes a wasteland.  The time is now to be proactive in protecting what open space we have left.  These could be parks, beaches or forests but they all need protection as human encroachment looms just around the bend.

Invasive non native species have also taken hold.  Many gardens are no longer filled with native flowers and plants but exotic ones.  These non natives usually require more water and pesticides to grow, whereas native vegetation is designed by nature to grow and reproduce without the use of chemicals.  Non natives also spread their seed and can quickly takeover land squeezing out native species.  Once this cycle takes root it’s hard to eradicate, but it can be done.

Farmers planting wildflowers alongside crops help restore soil

In 2003 Iowa State University began a study on how planting native wildflowers would help restore the soil in agriculture fields.  The project called STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Row crops Integrated with Prairie Strips) yielded very positive results and was published in the prestigious peer reviewed National Academy of Science.  Professor Lisa Schulte Moore was the lead author of the study “We found that a little prairie yields big benefits.  The benefits are disproportionate to the area taken out of crop production.”

Farmers have also taken notice of the loss of wildflowers.  Some farmers were hesitant about change while others embraced restoring the land and saw the benefits to their crop yield paying off.  The study showed by converting 10% of the agriculture area these prairie strips of wildflowers reduced soil erosion and nutrient loss while improving water infiltration.  Birds and beneficial insects, like ladybugs, also benefitted.  Farmers realized they could cut soil loss by as much as 95%, phosphorus loss in runoff by 77% and nitrate concentrations in groundwater by 72% when compared to an all crop watershed.  This would benefit the entire ecosystem not just farms.  Click here to read the study https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/iowa-state-university-project-prairie-strips-yield-big-environmental-benefits

Going extinct under the radar

These days nature needs a big helping hand.  As the land we still have left gets developed, drilled and mined into permanent destruction wildflowers have few places to grow.  Just a century ago entire meadows would blaze with dozens of colors ranging from yellow and red to purple and blue.  Mountains would turn into a living rainbow as Spring approached with the blooms of wildflowers.  Many of those meadows are now shopping malls and subdivisions of tract housing while the slopes of many mountains are now used more for human recreation than for non human species. Wildflower populations, like many other species, are in great urgent need of legal protection.

Declining populations vary depending on species of flower and region but one thing is clear, we are losing many species of wildflowers faster than we imagined and this is a global crisis.  A changing climate where some places will get warmer while others will get colder is a growing global problem. Species that evolved in a hot dry climate will not adapt to a wetter or cooler climate just as species that need a moist environment will go extinct as their habitat warms.  Other problems such as habitat loss, air pollution, more droughts, stronger storms and stronger UV all contribute to declining wildflower populations too.  If we fail to act now we will lose our wildflowers forever.

In 2019 a study was conducted on native wildflower species in the New England and New York area.  They found about 25% had been lost since the late 1800s  while invasive non native species were increasing.  The study focused on the northeast but it’s happening everywhere just look around.  Meadows one used to play in as a child are gone. The message is clear, we can’t keep plowing the planet and expect any species to survive, including our own.  Click here to read the study https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2019-06-06/new-england-is-losing-its-native-plants-researchers-say-its-time-to-stop-and-smell-the-wildflowers

The colors of nature

Wildflowers range in color from the brightest pinks, reds and yellows to dark blues and purples to white.  While Sunflowers are huge other flowers are so tiny they’re barely larger than a ladybug.  The array of colors and patterns is as varied as our imagination.  Some of the most colorful flowers are barely the size of pea yet pack a powerful punch for nature.  While we enjoy the colors and patterns they offer, wildflowers feed a diverse group of creatures we share the planet with.

A Rufus Hummingbird feeding on Firebush

A Bananaquit on Firespike

Endangered Curtiss Milkweed, host plant for the Monarch Butterfly

A Brazilian Skipper butterfly on Railroad vine

A Leafless Beaked Ladietresses

A patch of Sunflowers

Snowy Orchid state threatened in Florida

The tiny delicate Elliot’s Milkpea

The stunning Bearded Grasspink

Beautifying our roadways while helping nature

At the turn of the 20^th century few cars existed and even fewer roads were available to drive on.  In 1920 if you had a Model T you likely drove down roads that were lined with trees, bushes and flowers.  As more people began to purchase these new driving machines, the demand for more roads increased.  Construction meant tearing up open fields and meadows once covered with wildflowers.

In the 1920s you might have been driving one of these going down a country road with sprawling fields of flowers, and not much else.

By the 1950s we still had a lot of open space but the population boom meant more construction was on the way.  More roads, highways, bridges, railroad tracks and airports were constructed to connect people from all parts of the country.  This also meant less open space and less wildflowers.

Former First Lady Claudia Johnson ‘Ladybird’ always had a passion for nature.  She used her time in the White House to help educate the public about the beauty and benefits of nature.  Flower motifs adorned the official china used at state dinners.  She was inspired by her husbands’ State of the Union address in 1965.

“We must make a massive effort to save the countryside and to establish as a green legacy for tomorrow, more large and small parks, more seashores and open spaces than have been created during any other period in our national history.”  - President Lyndon Johnson

The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 known as ‘Lady Bird’s Bill’ passed.  Its goal was to establish air quality standards, provide for building of scenic overlooks and set limits on unsightly billboards and litter along the highways.  She saw the health benefits of limiting air pollution while seeing the mental benefits of seeing beauty, from wildflowers, along America’s highways.  In 1963 the Florida Dept of Transportation initiated its first Wildflower Program which still exists today.  In 1973  Operation Wildflower, which Lady Bird Johnson supported, was established by the Federal Highway Administration for interstate highways nationwide.  Click here to read about FDOT’s wildflower program.

https://www.flawildflowers.org/fdot-wildflower-program-history/

However, since this speech 60 years ago, we seem to have swept this ideal of protecting open spaces under the carpet in pursuit of progress. We have placed this hope for protecting wilderness and wildlife on the backburner and it doesn’t look like anyone in government plans to revisit this any time soon.  We need more open space now more than ever. 

How you can help save our wildflowers

• Start a garden by only planting organic non-gmo native flowers for your area.  They are designed by nature to be heat and water tolerant and drought resistant.  They won’t require lots of work or chemicals to survive.  A little education goes a long way.

  
  

• If you already have a garden please don’t use chemicals.  If you have a healthy ecosystem they’re not needed.  Pesticides (herbicides, rodentcide) stay in the atmosphere long after we’ve gone.  They kill more than their stated ‘target’ insect.  The value of insects is enormous, they provide food for birds and help irrigate soil.  Others pollinate which is necessary for many plant species to survive.  Once you spray to kill insects you forever disrupt the delicate balance nature created that humans cannot replicate.  If you have a mosquito problem, one of the main reasons for spraying, try attracting birds, bats and woodpeckers with organic seeds, nuts, fruit and bat/bird houses.  They’ll repay your kindness by consuming the problem insects.

  
  

• If there is a development planned get involved.  Community involvement can stop or shrink a planned project and help save open space whether it’s a meadow, coastline or local park.  Too often these projects go through without any public input and if no one is watching there is no accountability.  Once a meadow of wildflowers is plowed there is no going back.

  
  

• Check to see if your state, or local municipality, has a wildflower program.  Many government programs welcome citizen volunteers and science projects.  If your area does not have such a program try establishing one.

  
  

• Get local schools involved with planting wildflowers on their grounds as a living biological laboratory to study.  It’s a great way to get the next generation involved in conservation.

  
  

• Join your local or state native plant organization.  Get involved planting wildflowers along the roadways in your area.  Educate your neighbors about the benefits of keeping our open spaces and wildflowers.  Click here to find your state chapter for native plants/wildflowers

  https://theplantnative.com/resources/native-plant-societies/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-2