Within my first few weeks on campus, walking back from class, I saw a monarch butterfly on the sidewalk.
It had been stepped on, either under a bully’s foot or perhaps by someone not looking where they were going. I knelt to see if there was any chance it was still alive, maybe just a wing torn a little. But it was dead — crushed into the sidewalk.
I continued my walk to the dorm, a sinking feeling in my chest.
I haven’t seen any other monarchs since that one.
Monarch butterflies are an endangered species, along with nearly 70 other pollinator species that have been classified as threatened or endangered.
The primary culprits include imported or nonnative species, diseases, and a lack of habitat.
Though the University of Iowa has made great strides in its efforts to become more green and pollinator-friendly, there is still work to be done. Nearly 2 percent of the country, or 40 million acres, is covered with turf grass. That’s more land than farmers devote to corn, wheat, or fruit trees combined.
Likewise, much of the university remains covered in turf grass — an encompassing term used to describe several species of lawn grasses designed to be mowed regularly and repeatedly stepped on. Not only is it dull to look at, but turf grass also lacks much practicality or merit, especially for native species and pollinators.
Native and pollinator plants, on the other hand, are varied and beautiful. And they serve purposes beyond just aesthetics. Native plants, by their very nature, are best suited to their environments and the surrounding natural life. They have spent millennia evolving to thrive in these conditions.
Where foreign, imported flowers might die the second the first frost brushes their petals, native plants are genetically encoded to endure. Where turf grass may shrivel up and turn brown during the summer heat, native plants have intensive roots systems to pull every last drop of water from the ground.
These deep root systems also help absorb the impact of heavy rains and excess water. A local example of this comes from the Ashton Prairie and Living Laboratory on the edge of campus. Encircled by the Ashton Cross Country Course, Professor Michael Fallon noted that the prairie helps keep the course from becoming too wet or flooded for runners.
Another benefit of native and pollinator gardens is maintenance. While turf grass requires constant mowing, trimming, and watering, native plants largely care for themselves, thanks to their resilience. They don’t require the plethora of pesticides and herbicides that so many nonnative plants do to stay alive, many of which are harmful to them and their codependent organisms, as well as to our own health.
Perhaps most importantly, native plants benefit native pollinators and wildlife. These organisms depend on the plants for habitat and sustenance. And we depend on them.
Similar to how native plants have evolved to best suit and thrive in their environments, so have animals and insects. Many of them have evolved with specific native plants through symbiotic relationships. To remove these plants is to remove the other organisms that depend on them.
A common argument against adding more pollinator gardens, particularly in certain areas of the university, is that turf grass gives a sense of academic rigor and establishment that native plants might not.
“It represents tradition, and it means a powerful research institute that tries to achieve the highest goals of academia,” Fallon said.
Outsiders — touring students and their families — view the university through its first impression: the outer appearance. Native and pollinator gardens may give the impression to the unknowing eye that we are unkept and wild. Such uniformed impressions highlight the need for a paradigm shift, not only at the university and in Johnson County but across the country.
Native and pollinator gardens show that the institutions and people they reflect know and respect the environment — not that they are careless or lazy.
Pollinator gardens with native plants that are more diverse and wild than their manicured counterparts are also infinitely more reflective of us as the University of Iowa. We are not like the uniform, plain turf grass. We are the wildflowers, each unique in our own way. We are the “weeds” that grow wherever planted. We are the native prairies: unique and diverse.
“They have an inherent beauty,” University Arborist Andrew Dahl said. “To me, a pollinator patch is much more beautiful than a mowed lawn.”
Ultimately, while it’s important to incorporate more native and pollinator gardens on campus, it must also be recognized that some places are more ideal than others, and some areas are not appropriate to alter.
Still, for the sake of the monarchs, bees, and many other pollinators on which we depend, people must shift their ideas of gardening and landscaping. We must aid in the paradigm shift to better benefit our environment.