Benefits of Native Plants

With rapid advances in transportation over the past century, regions have become more interconnected, and transplanting plants has become easier than ever. From Giant Reeds to Fountain Grass, over one thousand non-native plants have been introduced to California. While these plants may provide aesthetic benefits, they overwhelmingly strain local ecosystems. They compete with native plants for space and resources, offer little sustenance for pollinators, and require heavy irrigation. In contrast, planting native species in urban spaces offers a multitude of benefits, most notably: improving biodiversity, improving mental health, and maintaining pollinator populations.

One of the most pressing issues in California is water usage. Over 50% of California’s residential water goes to landscape irrigation, for lawns that provide nothing more than aesthetic purposes. In recent years, urbanization has led to homogenous and (more often than not), purely ornamental lawns in suburban areas. These lawns may look uniform and present the illusion of thriving ecosystems, but they fail to provide meaningful ecosystem services.

Planting native species offers a solution to this water waste. According to Calscape, native plants require sixty to eighty percent less water than traditional lawns. Therefore, for homeowners, the benefits of native plants lie in the reduced maintenance cost. Native plants are better adapted to the environments they are native to (shocker!), resulting in them being stronger than exotic plants. In addition, native plants tend to have deeper root systems, allowing them to access the moisture underground. In San Jose in particular, many plants have adapted to be drought-resistant. Some plants native to this area include the following: Big Leaf Maple, Yarrow, California Buckeye, and Milkweed.

Beyond these practical benefits for homeowners, native plants also play a critical role in supporting ecosystems. Some native species, known as keystone plants, have a disproportionate effect on the ecosystem, meaning they support far more wildlife compared to other species. For example, a native oak can support hundreds of caterpillar species while a non-native ginkgo tree can support only ten. Because of this, from an environmentalist perspective, native species are important for supporting biodiversity. By providing nectar, habitat, and food sources for insects, birds, and other wildlife, they act as foundations of the food web, fostering complex and interconnected ecosystems. As seen in the caterpillar example from above, some insects have specialized diets, and are only able to thrive with certain diets.

Given all these practical and environmental advantages, it is evident that native plants offer far more benefits than non-native plants primarily grown for aesthetics. They conserve water, thrive in local conditions, and support biodiversity. By doing so, native plants transform suburban spaces like those in San Jose into thriving ecosystems. 

By Anna Zhao