Early in the history of the Pumpkinvine
Natural Trail, geneticist and naturalist Dr. Merle Jacobs emphasized that greenbelts like the
Pumpkinvine are important corridors that connect plant and animal
communities. On November 12, 2011, I
attended the Indiana Native Plant & Wildflower Society annual conference at
Indianapolis that reinforced Jacob’s point.
The conference theme, “Connectivity & Corridors, “ illustrated the
importance of greenway corridors from different contexts, e.g. Amazon and
Indiana forests and Golden Lion Tamarins and local bumble bees. If fragments of forests remain isolated from
each other, the diversity of plants and animals decreases over time in each
fragment. See the greenway dimension of the Pumpkinvine on Google maps: Pumpkinvine from CR 1100 W to 900 W
But green corridors, even a
corridor only 80 feet wide, like the Pumpkinvine, make it more likely that diverse plants and
animals thrive in each fragment. Pollinating insects, ants and small rodents that disperse seeds, and
birds that need the protection of tree canopy can travel from one small forest
fragment to another. The next time you
bike or hike our lovely Pumpkinvine you may want to think on all the living
things besides us bipeds that profit from this crucial corridor. (Submitted by
John J. Smith, November 14, 2011)
When you click on the Google maps link, you may want to follow the thin line of trees, i.e., the green Pumpkinvine corridor, that connects fragments of forest from the end of the trail near Shipshewana to SR 13 at the Dairy Queen.
ReplyDeleteA friend just alerted me to this recent article in the journal "Nature"--- http://www.nature.com/news/the-pollinator-crisis-what-s-best-for-bees-1.9308. The authors write:
ReplyDelete"What bees need most, the new pollination studies have shown, is a diverse community of flowering plants that bloom throughout the spring and summer."
Another reason to support greenways with diverse plant communities!