When you think about plants, you probably picture individual trees or your favorite type of flower, but you probably don't think of them in a bigger way: as habitat.
"But in fact they are. They are the foundation of ecological communities: of birds and insects and mammals, and us," said Elizabeth Farnsworth, a senior research ecologist at the New England Wild Flower Society.
It just released a report about the state of plants in the region, compiling reams of data from academic papers and field observations to provide a snapshot of how plant life in New England is doing. One of their findings? Twenty-two percent of New England's native plants are now considered rare or "historic."
"What we mean by historic is that a plant was documented from a state, at some point in its history, but it has not been seen growing wild on the landscape of a particular state for more than 20 to 25 years," Farnsworth said. "We have nearly 100 species that are actually regarded now as historic in New England. They may exist elsewhere, but they are no longer found in our region. The loss of 100 species could be quite significant."
The loss would be important to animals, Farnsworth said, and to us. She said one thing everyone can do to combat declining numbers is to plant a native plant, like common milkweed, which helps animals like monarch butterflies.
"One of the other things that we recommend that people try and do," Farnsworth said, "is to stop or reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in the attempt to maintain a putting-green lawn," treatments which Farnsworth said, tend to wash downstream and pollute waterways.
