Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants
"The value of oaks for supporting [...] wildlife cannot be overstated. [...] Acorns fill the bellies of deer, raccoons, turkeys, mice, black bear, squirrels, and even wood ducks. Cavities that develop in living and dead oak giants supply vital nesting sites for dozens of species of birds [...] no other plant genus supports more species of Lepidoptera, thus providing more types of bird food, than the mighty oak."
"Most compelling to me, however, is the use of native species to create simplified vestiges of the ecosystems that once made this land such a rich source of life for its indigenous peoples and, later, for European colonists and their descendants. That most of our ecosystems are no longer rich is beyond debate, and today, most of the surviving remnants of the native flora that formed them have been finished off by development or invaded by alien plant species. [...] ...we simply have not left enough intact habitat for most of our species to avoid extinction. [...] ...for our own good, and certainly for the good of other species, we simply must do better. Native plants will play a disproportionately large role in our success."
—From Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy
