Despite the drought, don’t give up on our native plants | Letters

By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion

Martin Sullivan and Lorraine Du Feu respond to a recent letter suggesting that we should focus on planting non-native species that can tolerate extreme heat Richard Eltringham ( Letters, 5 August ) argues that climate change necessitates switching to a planting palette of drought-tolerant non-native species. It’s not as simple as that. Horticulturists focus on the value of non-native plants for pollinators, but other ecological interactions (for example, food plants for insect larvae) are harder to replace. Native oaks support 2,300 other species ; drought-adapted non-natives can’t substitute for all these interactions. Our native species themselves aren’t tied to a preindustrial climate; there is evidence of rapid microevolutionary changes in oaks in response to recent climate change, so those crisping saplings might be part of selection for drought adaptation. Alternative planting palettes don’t offer a panacea – Mediterranean landscapes are rather brown in summer precisely because of plants’ adaptations to hot and dry conditions, while our dull, wet winters adeptly kill many drought-tolerant species. Continue reading...