Ecological Consulting for Homegrown Conservation

Connect. Conserve. Create.

Knowing the flora, the community of wild plants, of the place where one lives facilitates a deeper connection with the living Earth that sustains us. Terrestrial ecosystems, communities of species on land, are defined by the plants that grow in them. In a given forest for example, the species of trees that form the canopy and the understory plants beneath them collectively create the specific type of that forest. The bodies of these trees and other plants provide food and shelter for the wildlife of the forest. Which species of plants grow in a given ecosystem determine which animals can live there, and native plants provide the most benefits to the native animals, fungi and microbes of that place. Therefore which species of plants are encouraged or discouraged is central to land stewardship. If you own, or otherwise have stewardship of, a piece of land, you are in a powerful position to positively affect the health of our planet. Whether it’s replacing a few square feet of lawn with a pollinator garden or applying ecological forest management principals to acres of forest, Wild Niche is here to help you realize your conservation goals.

Services ~

Floristic Surveys

This is the signature service of Wild Niche. The starting point of any ecological work on your property is knowledge of its flora, the wild plant species growing there. Surveys may include various plant categories, but I recommend at least having your woody plants identified. Preferably the survey will include all vascular plants; ferns, wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and rushes. The result of the survey is your Flora, with a capital “f”. Your Flora is the written summary of your flora. It is broken up into three broad categories; native, naturalized non-native, and invasive. Common and scientific names are given for each species, as well as some general information. Clients also have access to more detailed plant profiles, including photos, on my website.

Ecological Forest Management

Ecological management of forests seeks to maximize the ecological services they provide; wildlife habitat, watershed health, including flood mitigation and groundwater recharge, and carbon sequestration. Some commercial harvesting can be compatible with some ecological forest management plans, but Wilde Niche specializes in managing forests solely for conservation value. While this management is non-extractive it does often include the felling of trees. Most of Vermont’s forests are largely comprised of dense stands of young trees that arose after the land was cleared. In the fierce competition for light and other resources most of these trees will ultimately die. In the meantime they severely limit the establishment of a healthy understory. Selective thinning favors species and individual trees that are most likely to grow to maturity, and enables them to do so in less time and in better health. It also allows more light to reach the forest floor, fostering understory plant communities, which are essential to a forest’s ecological value. Other ecological forestry treatments include invasive species management, creation of snags (standing dead trees), and brush piles for wildlife habitat, and introduction/reintroduction of plant species that enhance the forest’s plant community.

Native Plant Landscaping

The nursery trade and associated landscaping industry are largely focused on cultivars of exotic plant species selected for their aesthetic appeal. While inclusion of such plants isn’t always a bad thing, the extreme bias in their favor has real and harmful effects on ecosystems. These harms arise from the spread of the many invasive species that escape from cultivation and from the lack of input into local food webs (Douglas Tallamy’s “ecological freeloaders”). Site-appropriate native plants are essentially zero-maintenance once they’re established, and they provide the most habitat value for native pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Native plants can be effectively utilized in manicured landscapes, but as the name implies, Wild Niche invites you to embrace a more natural aesthetic. The perceived chaos of dense vegetation can be controlled to varying degrees according to one’s individual tastes, but once the right plants are in place simply letting them go enables natural processes to unfold. This rewilding of your yard is a powerful way of giving back to nature, and of deepening your connection to the natural world. Wild Niche is here to guide you through this beautiful transformation.