A seminal report published in 1995 recorded 3,269 vascular plants as native to Canada. Of these, 42 (1.4%) were endemic and only about 8 of them were endemic to Ontario. Most of them are located in the far north of the Province. (1)
A study in 2017 recorded 4,677 vascular plants in Canada of which 3,535 were native and 1,142 were believed to be introduced (25%). (2)
Another study I found in VASCAN. identified a total of 5,142 vascular plants of which 3,829 are considered native and 1,295 (25%) are introduced. VASCAN is an up to date checklist. (3)
Has Canada grown new native plants? I think the increases are likely due to;
1 – an increase in the number of ecologists
2 – an increase in the number of studies funded
3 – a greater accuracy in plant identification
4 – an influx of native plants from other territories
What I found interesting was the very small number that are endemic, especially in species-rich Ontario. In spite of an increase in non natives the relationship of 75/25 of native to non native remains consistent. To me, this represents a mix of plants well-suited to help mitigate the effects of climate change and which enhances evolutionary expression. It also indicates that our native plants are common in many of the territories bordering Ontario, including the States to the south.
This data from a study in Britain also struck me as significant;
“ Of the 3,445 different plant species recorded, 1,692 are native to Britain and 1,753 non-native.” (4)
In spite of there being more non native than native plants, the food chain in Britain appears not to have collapsed (I read recently in an English national newspaper that flying insects are abundant this year). British gardens are thought to be inspirational, making home-gardening very popular.
Discussion
Some introduced plants can cause a real ecological stir. This is most evident in simple ecosystems on those remote islands favoured by ecologists. But in many other cases the effects are short-lived. Novel ecosystems are the hotbeds of hybridization (speciation) with both introduced and host plants fitting in and getting along well. Surely proof of Darwin’s theories on Evolution?
Is it not time we educate home gardeners not to destroy perfectly good plants simply because they are not native?
(1)https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pdf4/1713165i00181030.pdf
(2) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Oldham-4/publication/317731067_List_of_the_Vascular_Plants_of_Ontario%27s_Carolinian_Zone_Ecoregion_7E/links/594b0567aca2723195de8ac8/List-of-the-Vascular-Plants-of-Ontarios-Carolinian-Zone-Ecoregion-7E.pdf
(3) https://www.canadensys.net/dataset/3f8a1297-3259-4700-91fc-acc4170b27ce/project#studyAreaDescription
(4) https://growwild.kew.org/blog/uk-native-plants-and-fungi
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