Episode 5

Native Gardens, Happy Soil, and a Green Future with Dr. Tyler Moore

Published on: 25th April, 2023

Native Gardens, Happy Soil, and a Green Future

Episode Introduction

In today's episode we interview Dr. Tyler Moore, associate professor of biology at Bellevue University and President of Green Bellevue about how native gardens influence microbial soil communities, carbon sequestration, the photosynthesis you might have forgotten about since grade school, and your mother-in-law's turf grass. Come hang out with us as we talk some science.

Host Stephanie Barelman

Stephanie Barelman is the founder of the Bellevue Native Plant Society, a midwest motivational speaker, and host of the Plant Native Nebraska Podcast.

Guest Dr. Tyler Moore

Tyler is a professor of biology at Bellevue University and current president of Green Bellevue. He received his bachelors degree in biology and his PhD in microbiology and molecular biology from UNL. He also completed a post -doctorate fellowship at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease.

At BU, Tyler, students, and other faculty are using a recently-installed 10,000 square-foot native plant meadow to study how native plants contribute to campus biodiversity and to study adaptations of invertebrates in natural settings.

He has co-authored many academic papers and his recent research we are talking about today is studying how native gardens impact the soil microbial community.

Thank you, Tyler, for helping us provide some great content in today's talk!

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Get some merch! https://plant-native-nebraska.myspreadshop.com/

Find us on Facebook

Visit our homepage https://plant-native-nebraska.captivate.fm

Give us a review on Podchaser! www.podchaser.com/PlantNativeNebraska

Support My Work via Patreon

The Plant Native Nebraska podcast can be found on the podcast app of your choice.

Episode Content

Background for this chat:

-The Academic Paper : Baldi, D.S., Humphrey, C.E., Kyndt, J.A. et al. Native plant gardens support more microbial diversity and higher relative abundance of potentially beneficial taxa compared to adjacent turf grass lawns. Urban Ecosyst (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01325-5

-Read an article about it here!

Tyler's photography hobby

-Check it out here: https://www.natureamongus.com/

Green Bellevue

championing various green initiatives in Bellevue such as zero waste and increasing native habitat

Sequencing

It all sounds very science-y and beyond me but so very cool... Analyzing genetics of bacteria, you know, just your typical run-of-the-mill stuff.

Is this an overwhelming topic?

Yes, even for scientists.

Why should we care about soil ecology?

In short, planet Earth is cool. The basic functions of things that live in the ground make life on earth possible.

Photosynthesis

Remember grade school? All energy on earth begins with plants. Photosynthesis up and down through the trophic levels baby!

Ok, so what did they even find out?

Those native gardens that provide obvious support to the stuff we see: birds, moths, butterflies, bees, salamanders, dragonflies... also providing support to invisible communities under ground. Lovely, sweet bacteria. And there's way more diversity than even under the hippiest of hippy turf grasses. And more of these guys under ground = better nutrients, better carbon sequestering.

Wait, carbon sequestering... what's that?!?!

You know that greenhouse carbon dioxide floating in the air, plants can funnel that stuff underground. In fact, plants need carbon to survive. I kind of forgot all about carbon. Not gonna lie.

Monocultures are bad

They are unnatural and basically have only come around as a result of humans manipulating the planet.

Mycelium

Yes, I brought up fungi. Don't judge me.

Again, what does soil research even mean for the native plants dialogue?

Don't forget about the underground goings on when thinking what to do above ground. The evidence keeps pointing to planting native at being the most reasonable approach to preserving life on earth.

Thank you Tyler, it was interesting, to say the least!

Additional content related to this episode:

What makes a plant native?

http://bonap.net/fieldmaps Biota of North America North American Plant Atlas database-select Nebraska

https://bellevuenativeplants.org Bellevue Native Plant Society

native (wild type) vs. nativar/native cultivar (cultivated by humans for desirable characteristics)

On the Web

BONAP aforementioned

BNPS aforementioned

http://www.facebook.com/groups/bellevuenativeplantsociety- BNPS on Facebook

Books & Authors

Rick Darke- The Living Landscape

Douglas Tallamy- Professor and Chair of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Entomology at the University of Delaware, author of The Living Landscape, Nature's Best Hope, naturalist, and curator of "Homegrown National Park". Link to Nature's Best Hope book here:

Enrique Salmon- Iwigara

Daniel Moerman -Native American Ethnobotany

Heather Holm- https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com

Native Plants of the Midwest

Planting in a Post-Wild World

Jon Farrar's Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska