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- 1. Landscaping for Wildlife Meredith Gray Conservation Program Coordinator Wildlife Austin Program City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
- 2. Guess What? We’re #1 for Wildlife!
- 3. Certified NWF Habitats • Austin is a Community Wildlife Habitat with National Wildlife Federation • Over 2154 Certified Wildlife Habitats in Austin total • Wildlife Austin can help you get your yard certified for free!
- 5. In the Beginning… • “We want more wildlife!” • 2007 City Council Resolution No. 28 • Emphasis on the importance of native plants in landscaping • Follow National Wildlife Federation (NWF) guidelines • Austin became Certified as an NWF Community Wildlife Habitat in 2009
- 6. Wildlife Austin Today… Our newsletter –
- 7. Habitat Steward Project: McNeil High School
- 8. Habitat Steward Project: Blackshear Elementary
- 9. The Future of Wildlife Austin Maintain Austin’s certification Community Education—Habitat Stewards Habitat establishment on City property Habitat Establishment on School Grounds Community gardens Increased focus on pollinators
- 10. Renewed Focus on Pollinators for 2016 Colony Collapse Disorder • Our bees are disappearing… • We don’t want to have to pollinate by hand! Versus…
- 11. Why are pollinators so good at their job? Anatomy of a Honey Bee
- 12. What percentage of food that we eat are dependent upon pollinators for production? • A--10 % • B--50% • C--30 %
- 13. Just how important are they? • Fruits and Nuts: • Apple, Chestnut, Macadamia, Peach • Apricot, Coconut, Cacao, Nectarine • Crabapple, Oil, Palm, Olive, Pear • Cashew, Date, Cherry, Plum • Fig, Papaya, Passion fruit, Kiwi • Pomegranate, Strawberry, Raspberry, Cranberry • Blackberry, Blueberry, Gooseberry, Grapes
- 14. Still not convinced? • Vegetables: • Artichoke, Asparagus, Balsam, Pear, Beet • Broccoli, Brussels, Sprouts, Cauliflower, Carrot • Celery, Chicory, Cucumber, Chive • Eggplant, Leek, Green, Pepper, Parsnip • Pumpkin, Squash, Rutabaga, Tomato • Turnip, Watermelon, White, Gourd, Radish
- 15. How about now? • Coffee, Dill, Parsley, Lavender • Black Pepper, Mustard, Sunflower, Vanilla • Sesame, Nutmeg, Fennel, Guava Coffee = life force.
- 16. MONARCHS IN CRISIS Monarch populations have plummeted 90%. Plant milkweed and nectar plants!
- 19. OTHER THREATS • CHEMICALS: Insecticides kill monarch caterpillars & butterflies • CLIMATE CHANGE: • Key habitat must adjust to warmer temperatures, strong storms & deeper droughts • Climate change can alter the timing of migrations
- 20. City of Austin Council Resolution Resolution Action Statement: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN: The City Manager is directed to collaborate with the local offices of the National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and initiate a process for incorporating the cultivation of native milkweed where feasible into the city's landscape portfolio at Austin City Hall, city- owned buildings and properties, as well as the city's vast preserve lands, parks, and open spaces.
- 21. City of Austin Took the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge! Pledge taken Sept. 22, 2015
- 22. Mayor’s Monarch Pledge Action Items 1) Issue a Proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat 2) Launch a public communication effort to encourage citizens to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. 3) Communicate with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants. 4) Convene City Park and public works department staff and identify opportunities for revised mowing programs and planting milkweed/natives 5) Convene a meeting with gardening leaders in the community to discuss partnerships to support monarch butterfly conservation. 6) Host or support a native plant sale or milkweed seed giveaway event. 7) Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort. 8) Plant a monarch-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or
- 23. 9) Launch a program to plant native milkweeds and nectar plants in school gardens by engaging students, teachers and the community. 10) Earn recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by expanding your action plan to include other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts through a program like the NWF Community Wildlife Habitat program 11) Create a monarch neighborhood challenge to engage neighborhoods and homeowners’ associations within the city to create habitat for the monarch butterfly. 12) Add milkweed and nectar producing plants in community gardens. 13) Expand invasive species removal programs to make it possible to re-establish native milkweed and nectar plants to the landscape. 14) Host or support a city monarch butterfly festival. 15) Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats. 16) Direct city property managers to consider the use of native milkweed and nectar plants at city properties where appropriate. Mayor’s Monarch Pledge Action Items
- 24. CenTex Monarch Alliance • CenTex Monarch Alliance Members: • City of Austin Parks and Recreation • City of Austin Water - Wildland Conservation • City of Austin Watershed • US Fish and Wildlife Service • National Wildlife Federation • Austin Independent School District • Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center • Keep Austin Beautiful • Austin Parks Foundation • Pollinator Partnership • Monarch Watch • Monarch Gateway Photo: Matt Jackson
- 25. How Can You Help? • Use Native/Adapted Plants • Choose Plants with diverse colors • Use Layers • Pay Attention to Edges • Choose flowers with different shapes and sizes • Select plants with varying heights and growth habits and flowering times • Include plants that provide for butterfly larva as well as nectar and pollen producing flowering plants
- 26. Bust Wildlife Habitat Myths! Myth • Attract Rats/Mice • Breed Mosquitoes/pests • Create a fire hazard • Produce air-borne pollen • Lower property value Fact• A clean maintained landscape does not attract European mice • Naturalistic landscapes soak up more water. • If properly managed natural landscapes present no more fire danger • Exotic grasses, ragweed and oaks are primary allergen producers • Property value is a function of public perception
- 27. Diversity
- 28. Layering
- 29. Edges
- 31. Native Plants Native—plants here prior to European settlement Adapted—plants that arrived after European settlement but have adapted to this region. Invasive– plants the spread aggressively outside of its native habitat Exotic—opposite of native Exotic Invasive-- plants spread aggressively outside of its native habitat.
- 32. Take the Wildlife Austin Pollinator Challenge! Support our pollinators with specific plant palettes! Online at http://www.austintexas.gov/pollinatorchallenge Make a home for bees, butterflies, beetles, moths, hummingbirds in your backyard. New Adopt-a-Meadow program rolling out soon!
- 33. Get Certified with NWF! According to NWF you need 5 things to get a property certified: 1. Food – Seeds, Nectar, Fruit (provided by native plants) 2. Water – Bird bath, Pond, Backyard Creek 3. Shelter – Thickets, Rock Piles, etc 4. Places to Raise Young – Large Trees, Host Plants, Nesting Boxes 5. Sustainable Gardening Practices – Mulching, Compost, etc.
- 37. Places to Raise Young
- 39. HOW IT WORKS… Certify new backyard habitats through the National Wildlife Federation certification (contact wildlife@austintexas.gov for a pre-paid application form worth $20) Getting Certified…
- 40. • American Beautyberry – Callicarpa americana ‒ Grows well in moister conditions ‒ Good shade plant ‒ Beautiful berries in late summer/fall ‒ Great for wildlife!
- 41. • Coralberry – Symphoricarpos orbiculatus ‒ Does well in moist soil ‒ Has beautiful magenta berries in the fall and winter ‒ Great option for ground cover ‒ Great for birds
- 42. • Fall Obedient Plant – Physostegia virginiana ‒ Very tolerant of most soil types ‒ Great nectar source ‒ Can be aggressive but easy to keep in check
- 43. • Big Muhly – Muhlenbergia lindheimeri ‒ Well-behaved clump grass ‒ Needs little water ‒ Beautiful fluffy seed heads in the fall
- 44. • Milkweed – Asclepias sp. ‒ Several species to choose from, but avoid tropical unless willing to cut back in the fall so butterflies don’t overwinter ‒ Can grow either from seed or seedlings ‒ Generally flowers earlier but the tropical kind will flower later ‒ Provides food to monarch caterpillars ‒ Great to have in your garden year round! Tropical milkweed is OK – but make sure to cut back in late fall!
- 45. • Sunflowers – Helianthus sp. ‒ Generally bloom earlier ‒ Seed heads have great wildlife value!
- 47. If you’re in the WUI… think wildfire mitigation!
- 48. Join Our Fall Habitat Stewards Training Saturdays Sept. 25 – Oct. 29, 2016 – check our site-- http://www.austintexas.gov/department/wildlife-austin You’ll Learn About: •How to Create Wildlife Friendly Habitats •Native and Invasive Plants •Landscape Design Principles •Water Conservation •Riparian Restoration Techniques •Beneficial Insects •Community Stewardship •Schoolyard Habitat Projects •Native and Local Wildlife •Invasive Plant Ecology and Management Techniques •Riparian Habitat Restoration
- 49. Questions? ? Meredith Gray/LaJuan D. Tucker wildlife@austintexas.gov 512-974-9454 For more information visit our website: http://www.austintexas.gov/department/wildlife-austin
Hinweis der Redaktion
- History Slide
- Habitat Herald Habitat Highlights—which includes projects from our very active habitat stewards, living in a WUI—take on common misconception about wildlife and practical steps for living in the WUI
- We work with local non profits who are already doing work in the community to promote healthy landscaping practices. Habitat Stewards
- oney bees, which are a critical link in U.S. agriculture, have been under serious pressure from a mystery problem: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is syndrome defined as a dead colony with no adult bees or dead bee bodies but with a live queen and usually honey and immature bees still present. No scientific cause for CCD has been proven. But CCD is far from the only risk to the health of honey bees and the economic stability of commercial beekeeping and pollination operations in the United States. Since the 1980s, honey bees and beekeepers have had to deal with a host of new pathogens from deformed wing virus to nosema fungi, new parasites such as Varroa mites, pests like small hive beetles, nutrition problems from lack of diversity or availability in pollen and nectar sources, and possible sublethal effects of pesticides. These problems, many of which honey bees might be able to survive if each were the only one, are often hitting in a wide variety of combinations, and weakening and killing honey bee colonies. CCD may even be a result of a combination of two or more of these factors and not necessarily the same factors in the same order in every instance.
- You guessed it 30%
- Why the monarch? Big problem, relatively simple solution. Photo – Stole from on of Mary’s PPTs
- The North American monarch population has declined by more than 90 percent in the past two decades. This is due to decline in summer breeding habitat in the U.S. and decline in winter habitat in Mexico. Graph: From Web
- 1/3 of the monarch’s summer breeding habitat has been destroyed, largely in the Midwest. Milkweed, the only host plant for monarch caterpillars, has declined in the U.S. due to overuse of herbicides by commercial agriculture and conventional gardening practices in suburban and urban areas. Monarch overwintering sites are under threat, especially in Mexico where the forests used by monarchs are under logging pressure. Map: From Web
- Monarchs are being directly killed by insecticides both as adult butterflies and as caterpillars, in both agricultural and suburban and urban landscapes. Not only monarchs but their key milkweed habitat must adjust to warmer temperatures, stronger storms and deeper droughts. As with many species that make long migrations, climate change threatens many links in a long chain. Climate change alters the timing of migration, rainfall patterns in their forest habitat, and threatens their key Mexican forest overwintering grounds. Photo – Mary’s PPT
- Here is the key statement in the resolution. This is a big win for the monarch butterfly and all the citizens of Austin who love this iconic and declining species. Austin manages nearly 20,000 acres of land through the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and another 7,000 through the Austin Water Utility Wildlife Conservation Division. While no one would imagine that all of these lands will be managed with the monarch as its primary or only constituent, this resolution represents a significant step to plant more milkweed on city land. overwinter. The city of Austin also owns and operates 500 buildings and properties, ranging from libraries and police stations to Austin City Hall and the Austin Nature and Science Center. New demonstration gardens in prominent locations such as these could engage thousands of citizens each day and promote the planting of milkweed and pollinator friendly plants.
- The City of Austin, Texas sits at a critical migration point for the monarch butterfly. In the spring, Austin is one of the first places in the U.S. that the monarch stops to lay its eggs on milkweed, so the next generation can continue the journey north. During the fall migration, monarchs stop to feed on nectar plants because they need to fatten up on their way to Mexico where they will In May of 2015, the City of Austin passed a city council resolution designed to incorporate more native milkweed into the city’s landscape. Photo: Marya Fowler, NWF
- Since passing the Monarch Resolution, City of Austin staff have been meeting with area partners in a Monarch Coordination group to better align resources and staff working on monarch-related initiatives. The monarch resolution has also been a springboard to other initiatives such as the pollinator habitat management area plan, which involves changing mowing schedules on City parkland and other open space to better support monarch habitat.
- Butterfly plants Hummingbird plants
- Native—plants here prior to European settlement Adapted—plants that arrived after European settlement but have adapted to this region. Invasive– plants the spread aggressively outside of its native habitat Exotic—opposite of native Exotic Invasive-- plants spreads aggressively outside of its native habitat.