Contributors: Liette Vasseur

The following is the first in a series of blogs related to the organic science cluster 4 project: Promoting an Integrative Landscape Approach in Vineyards for Greater Resilience in the Face of Climatic and Environmental Changes. Follow along with updates as the project progresses, and learn more about the research HERE.

When you go for a walk in nature, do you look at the plant species along the trails? Have you realized that many species may have been here for a very long time: before the first humans coming to this land and since the last glaciation, in most cases.

As plants don’t travel and migrate like most animals, they migrated since the last glaciation northward at a slow pace. This long period of time allowed them to adapt to the new climatic and environmental conditions. They are more resistant and resilient to variability than new plant species that we intentionally or accidentally introduced to our country. You may have tried to plant an exotic plant in your garden, only for it to be dead the following year due a cold winter.

Native plants have co-evolved with the fungi, soil microorganism, and animals that are found in their ecosystem. For many species, this co-evolution has led to a strong mutual relationship for pollination, nutrient acquisition from the soil, etc. They also attract different insects that are predators of pests. For some insects, our native plant species (sometimes considered as weeds) are essential for their reproduction. For instance, the monarch butterfly in Canada relies on milkweed for its reproduction. Milkweed species used to be listed as a weed until researchers realized that the monarch needed milkweed for its reproduction in Canada. There are now efforts to reestablish the milkweed populations in Canada.

Native species have many advantages as many of them are perennial, meaning that they live for many years or can reseed themselves. Because of this, the maintenance is less than that of many exotic species that are annual. While the initial costs of using native species may be slightly higher than commercial annual plants, in the long term, they are not more expensive.

Another advantage of native perennial species is the variation in the flower blooms; some flower early summer while other not until the fall, like the goldenrod. They can also be planted in various conditions from full sun to shady conditions.

In this project, we are planting native species either from regional locations or from North America to promote biodiversification in the vineyards. Biodiversification is when we add native species that should or could have been in this environment in the past. Vineyards, like most agricultural lands, are monoculture of one crop. But, by adding native species between rows as cover crops, it is possible to increase plant diversity, hopefully leading to a more functional ecosystem that can enhance soil health and diversity, buffer against weather extremes, prevent erosion, and attract predators of insect pests.

While the project is relatively new, preliminary observations suggest that leafhoppers, a pest in vineyards, may be attracted to these native cover crops, reducing the pressure on the vines. With the variety of flowers these native species can also attract pest enemies such as parasitoid wasps.

Native species can also be added in many other agroecosystems as buffer zones along the agricultural ditches or field edges. For crops that require pollinators (vine are self pollinated), this may be of a great advantage, especially when we think about fruit trees and many other corps requiring pollinators for fruit production.