Ecological Heights

This website is a portal to local initiatives that create native plant landscapes in private and public green spaces in NE Ohio neighborhoods. These projects contribute to healthier native ecosystems, an often neglected nature-based piece to address the planet’s climate emergency.

The project was inspired in part by Doug Tallamy’s call for a Homegrown National Park to increase native biodiversity and the health of the planet. (For inspiration, watch Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope video presented to the Wild Ones.)

Why are we planting native species?

We are removing non-native plants and replanting with native species because insect, bird, reptile, and amphibian populations are in steep decline, and need our native plants for their food sources. One example is the migratory, iconic monarch butterfly. Monarchs (host plant: milkweeds) have declined in the United States by 85% in the east and 99% in the west. “Monarchs have lost an estimated 165 million acres of breeding habitat in the United States to herbicide spraying and development--” Center for Biological Diversity. Many other native pollinator species are also in trouble. We haven’t seen any painted lady, mourning cloak, or red admiral butterflies in recent seasons, where just a decade ago they were plentiful. They all have specific native host plants for their caterpillars to eat.

Most species of migrating birds depend on caterpillars—not seeds-- for their main source of food.

“The North American bird population is down by 2.9 billion breeding adults, with devastating losses among birds in every biome--” Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Once a species is extinct, or even in decline, this leaves a hole in the web of life, which sustains all of the animals and plants in an ecosystem. We want to help birds and insects recover. And we can start right in our own yards with just a few plants!

How to Get Involved

Explore this website to find a way to act locally in your own neighborhood. Be inspired to join a project, or start your own!