Keystone Plants, and the Plants Beneath (Soft Landing)

3 Comments

1. Susan cox says:

   February 10, 2022 at 8:26 am

   Mesquite aren’t considered?

   Reply
   1. George@PW says:

      February 10, 2022 at 8:37 am

      Hello Susan: I did not find Mesquites listed as a keystone species in the documents I reviewed, which was a surprise. At a minimum I would have expected Velvet Mesquite to be on the list.

      As Spadefoot Nursery notes in their tree guide: “More importantly, however, are the wildlife benefits of native mesquites, especially the velvet mesquite. The velvet mesquite possesses traits that our local fauna (insects, birds, mammals, reptiles) has evolved with. The non-native mesquites lack these traits. For example, in spring, the velvet mesquite attracts a host of insects because of extra floral nectaries and the timing of leaf break, and those insects are depended upon by migrating birds which evolved to time their migration in order to take advantage of this food source (the insects). The Lucy’s warbler (Leiothlypis luciae) is an example of a species that depends on native mesquites and their timing. The South American mesquites and their hybrids lack these traits entirely.”

      I welcome other comments and sources related to Mesquites as a keystone species.

      Reply
      1. Elliott@PW says:

         February 18, 2022 at 9:19 pm

         A great tool to evaluate trees and shrubs is this website https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/

         Oaks and willows are consistently the best hosts for caterpillar diversity. I also see locust, mimosa, and acacia, but no data for mesquite.

         Reply