A study of Carolina chickadees in residential properties in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area finds that in properties with more than 30% non-native plant biomass, the abundance of arthropods declined; by contrast, insectivorous birds, finding insufficient arthropod prey among non-native plants, either switched diets and reduced reproduction or did not reproduce; the results suggest impacts of non-native plants on insectivores, according to the authors.
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Article #18-09259: "Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird," by Desirée L. Narango, Douglas Tallamy, and Peter Marra.
MEDIA CONTACT : Desirée L. Narango, University of Delaware, Newark, DE; tel: 410-458-4530; e-mail: dnarango@gmail.com
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences