Question

explain the interdependency of different natural resources​

Answer 1

Explanation:

At the quarterly meeting of FODMers and friends on May 11, 2016, Alan Ford and Laura Beaty gave a presentation on the interrelationships of plants and animals and the important role of pollinators and leaf-eaters. Alan is president of the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society and Laura chairs the Propagation Committee.

Citing the work of University of Delaware's Entomology Chair, Douglas Tallamy, they explained that native plants and animals that co-evolved are often dependent on each other, integral parts of functioning ecosystems, and that by favoring native plants over non-natives, people can increase, restore and protect nature’s biodiversity. They emphasized that insects like butterflies need plants that provide nectar for adults and plants that host larvae. Among the pollinators they covered were ground bees, flies, bumblebees, cutter bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. In the photo, a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar is on a spicebush, Lindera benzoin (photo courtesy of Donna Murphy).

Here are several examples that Laura discussed:

Caterpillars are leafeaters. The caterpillar of the tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucous) eats the leaves of the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and in the fall Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) eat the tulip trees’ seeds. Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.) chew holes in the leaves of redbud trees (Cercis canadensis).

Black cherry trees (Prunnus serotina) are host plants for tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum), food for many birds that need protein, especially spring migrating birds and birds raising and feeding their young.

Oaks (Quercus) support 534 species of Lepidoptera.

The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeds on members of the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae).

Many plants in Northern Virginia have fall berries which are food for migrating birds, plants like greenbrier (Smilax spp.), poison ivy, (Toxicodendron radicans) and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).

Hummingbirds feed on tubular flowers, like coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) and columbine (Aquilegia canadensis).

Bumblebees are like “flying dust mops” because they collect and disperse pollen from plants like Joe Pye weed (Eupatoriadelphus fistulosum).