Australian Horticulturists Should Only Breed Native Plants

Australia’s large size allows there to be different climatic zones that are ideal for growing some native plants (Asian, Clare, and Marcel, 12). In the north, the climate is tropical with dry, warm and rainy seasons during winter and hot and humid during summer (Asian and Clare, 789). The tropical conditions in the country are good for plants like grevilleas, banksias, eucalypts, and melaleucas (Bidlack and Shelley, 38). This research paper analyses if gardeners in the country should plant non-native plants. Groups of gardeners should not be permitted to grow plants that are non-native because of a number of scientific merits the native plants have. Besides, growing non-native plants such as the rainforest would require an expensive artificial environment that can be costly to set up and maintain (Baltrus and David, 112). Plants grown in rainforest climate have shallow root systems compared to native plants with deep roots (Chelli and Azza, 17). This will require Australian gardeners to loosen the soil. Additionally, rainforest plants can survive tropical environments specific times of the year such as during the rainy season (Dunne, 48). Scientifically, rainforest plants are less tolerant to dry climate (Graham and Linda, 89). Most of the plants grown in rainforests climate have little or no protection on leaves to prevent transpiration (Hillel and Cynthia, 89). Therefore, it is significant to maintain an optimum level of humidity in the air to prevent loss of moisture. This may require trapping humidity by planning plants of harder species particularly in dry regions such as Mt Garnet or Townsville.

Australian gardeners should consider planting Graviella, Banksias, Melaleucas, and Eucalyptus. The Gravillea plant has pretoids roots that are found below the surface of the soil to absorb moisture, particularly during the rainy season (Held and Hans, 124). Additionally, the plant stomata close to save on water and open during the right conditions hence becoming drought resistant during the dry season in Australia (Kordyum, 85). The dry and arid areas rely on Banksias to maintain the ecosystem i.e. birds depend on the plant for nectar (Korymann, 249). The Eucalyptus and Melaleucas grow together, therefore, are adapted to drought with aspects such as soil and moisture (Ordonez, 256). On the other hand, the Brisbane City Council should provide non-native plants such as Bromeliads and orchids. This will encourage Australian gardeners to experiment with different non-native plants. For instance, bromeliads plants have long leaves which attach to a host thereby channeling water. Additionally, some plants possess spread out roots to trap water.

Nevertheless, growing native plants in Australia has more scientific merit compared to growing non-native plants. This is according to Olsen the different climate zones experienced in Australia may not favor the growth of some plants during warm and dry and hot and humid (Olsen, 240). For instance, rainforest plants do not grow well during dry times (Zhang, 875). According to Zuellig, rainforest plants have a thin cuticle that allows excess transpiration (Zuellig, 48). Therefore, plants may not grow favorably during warm and dry zones in Australia. Additionally, some non-native plants can invade native ecosystems and cause harm to the local plants (Zuellig, 48). This has been a case especially with weeds such as artichoke thistle and olive in Australia. The negative impact of invasive species has increased the cost of Agriculture. For example, weed control costs Australia about A$1.5 billion. Additionally, with native flora comes native fauna. Therefore, non-native plants have contributed to the growth of non-native invasive insects in Australia such as European wasp.

Australian native plants offer better breeding of inventive assortments thus providing more flexibility to Australian greenhouses. For instance, the English Box which is a substantial water swallowing non-native plant can be substituted for a recently reproduced type of Westringia called the Gray Box, which is a significantly more sensible reduced support plant, particularly for the Australian climate. Different cases of better bred native plants include Tanika, a fine leaf Lomandra that has turned out to be one of the hardest and most dependable scene plants accessible. It is amazingly flexible and gives a thick evergreen low developing native for most parts of Australia. Additionally, enhanced Lomandra Shara has been reared to be more Phytophthora tolerant, giving a fine leaf local Lomandra that will survive in areas such as Queensland that were previously deemed unsuccessful. Ozbreed has spearheaded a considerable lot of these 'better reared' native assortments and keeps on doing as such into the future.

Local plants offer more aesthetic value (Graham 56). One of the significance of Australian native plants is their scenic beauty. A significant number of native plants are entirely one of a kind to Australia and are an improved version with tidier foliage, better blossoming, and normally a more minimized form. They are exceptionally particular when in sprout, giving excellent regular shading and staggering blossoms. Another alluring advantage is that they offer a safe house for our local wild animals giving the habitat and sustenance for local creatures, insects, and birds thus maintaining ecological balance. This attracts birds and insects that feed on nectar thus providing pollination which improves biodiversity. Also, Local Australian plants have effectively adjusted to the local climate. This implies once a local garden is set up, it requires considerably less water to maintain and continue growing healthy compared to other colorful gardens and plants. Most locals additionally set up effectively, and by and large require less maintenance all through their lifecycle. In addition to this, local plants tend to not progress towards becoming weed like plants. For example, some colorful plants such as Aborigines can be less defenseless to neighborhood bugs and maladies. The reduced maintenance, fewer costs of running, and less watering imply a simple garden that keeps on looking healthy for the Australian gardeners.

Lastly but not least, native plants are available compared to exotic species (Graham 59). The Brisbane Counsel offers free native plants to Australian gardeners contrast to non-native plants. Therefore, local gardeners are inclined to growing native plants which then translate to sufficient pollination. In addition to this, native have the ability to survive the harsh climatic conditions which include periodic drought and frost. Also, native plants are adapted to local soil thus providing a better environment for plants growth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clearly evident that growing native plants have more scientific merits. The abiotic factors such as climate favor the growth of native plants while biotic factors such as invasive species and competition that can cause harm to biodiversity thus hindering conservation have favored native plants compared to non-native. Australian gardeners should, therefore, focus on growing native plants due to reduced maintenance, improved quality of soil and better breeding.

References

Aslan, Clare, and Marcel Rejmanek. "Native fruit traits may mediate dispersal competition between native and non-native plants." NeoBiota, vol. 12, 2012, pp. 1-24.

Aslan, Clare, E., et al. "Effects of Native and Non-Native Vertebrate Mutualists on Plants." Conservation Biology, vol. 26, no. 5, 2012, pp. 778-789.

Bidlack, James E, and Shelley Jansky. Introductory Plant Biology. 2017.

Baltrus, David A. "Adaptation, specialization, and coevolution within phytobiomes." Current Opinion in Plant Biology, vol. 38, 2017, pp. 109-116.

Chelli-Chaabouni, Azza. "Mechanisms and Adaptation of Plants to Environmental Stress: A Case of Woody Species." Physiological Mechanisms and Adaptation Strategies in Plants Under Changing Environment, 2013, pp. 1-24.

Dunne, Niall. A Native Plants Reader. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2012.

Graham, Linda E. Plant Biology. 2014.

Hillel, Daniel, and Cynthia Rosenzweig. Handbook of Climate Change and Agroecosystems: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation. Imperial College P, 2011.

Heldt, Hans-Walter, et al. Plant Biochemistry. Academic, 2011.

Kordyum, E. L. "Plant cell gravisensitivity and adaptation to microgravity." Plant Biology, vol. 16, 2013, pp. 79-90.

Kroymann, Juergen. "Natural diversity and adaptation in plant secondary metabolism." Current Opinion in Plant Biology, vol. 14, no. 3, 2011, pp. 246-251.

Ordonez, Alejandro. "Global meta-analysis of trait consistency of non-native plants between their native and introduced areas." Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 23, no. 3, 2013, pp. 264-273.

Olsen, LeighAnne, et al. The Social Biology of Microbial Communities: Workshop Summary. 2012.

Zhang, Dabing. "Translational plant biology." Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, vol. 57, no. 11, 2015, pp. 874-875.

Zuellig, Matthew P., et al. "Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation: insights from new model systems." Current Opinion in Plant Biology, vol. 18, 2014, pp. 44-50.