2023 September 21 - Moths and Native Plants

Moth Pollination and Native Plants

with Chris Cosma

Monthly Meeting: September 21 - Thursday

Doors Open 7:00pm, Presentations begin at 7:30pm

Location: Clifton C. Community Center, 300 Centennial Way in Tustin 

(Next to the Tustin Library and close to many restaurants)

Or watch via Zoom:  https://zoom.us/j/93712092121?pwd=WVg2VkRIUFI3UUFDaWtITWR1ZEUvQT09 

Chris Cosma is the winner of the Forest Shreve Research Award for his dissertation work on moth pollinator networks in the Sonoran Desert.

His work uses a 2,400-meter elevation gradient and DNA metabarcoding to identify pollen-transport across space and time. This work simultaneously identifies some of the abiotic and biotic drivers of pollinator network composition and structure, while also providing predictions for how pollinators and associated plant species may respond to climate change.

While most research has focused on highly specialized interactions such as the yucca-yucca moth relationship, there is growing evidence that entire communities of moths and plants are involved in nocturnal pollination networks that rival their diurnal counterparts in scale and complexity. By analyzing how network structure and stability vary in relation to abiotic and biotic factors along an elevational gradient, this research will help inform predictions about how plant and insect communities will be impacted by climate change.

SIEG Promo

A SAGE IN EVERY GARDEN CAMPAIGN

We are partnering with event holders to add 2,000 native White Sage plants to Orange County Gardens. One FREE plant/household. Goals: increase nature-beneficial gardening, conserve water use in cities, and protect white sage in public wildlands.  CLICK THE TITLE OR PICTURE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

* This successful campaign completed on March 4th. Click on the image below to see a Google Map of the cities (approximate locations) where nearly 2,000 of the plants went from CNPS OC (red dots) and Roger's Gardens (orange dots) events.  
 

Connecting with California Native Plants

With Local Nature

• Plant native plants. Check hours at these nurseries with year-round inventories:

Tree of Life Nursery, inland from San Juan Capistrano near Caspers Wilderness Park
California Botanic Garden, Claremont
Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley
Roger's Gardens, Newport Beach
Find more nurseries on Calscape

• What to plant now – Calscape
• Add pollinator and habitat plants –Calscape, Calflora
• Monthly garden chores

• Go for a walk
  
• Share photos of the native plants you see to iNaturalist or Calflora
• Learn to identify new native plants along a trail
• Hunt for high priority invasive plants in secluded areas and report them