NRCS – Texas 1 

Technical Note No: TX-PM-10-6 

United States Department of Agriculture

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Technical Note No: TX-PM-10-6 

August 2010

Why Natives? 

Plant Materials Technical Note

Natural patch of native buffalo grass, Shelly Maher, E. “Kika” de la Garza PMC

Native plants are plants that have evolved naturally in their environment. They were well 

established in their region for hundreds of years before any human intervention. Ecosystems 

are specifically evolved around the native plants of that area. These native plants provide a 

diverse, balanced environment that maintains a healthy ecosystem. They help conserve water, 

protect soil from erosion and provide habitat for the birds, butterflies and other wildlife that 

coevolved with these native plants. And as Lady Bird Johnson said, native plants “give us a 

sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13112 in order to help promote the use of native 

species and the restoration of native habitats in Federal projects (Clinton 1999; Harper-Lore 

and Wilson 1999; Forman et al. 2003). Native plants and seed are needed for publically funded 

ecosystem restoration programs, highway right-of-way plantings, mitigation of oil, gas and 

other energy production activities, and for improvement of wildlife habitat on private and 

public lands. The consequence of not having native plants and seed available for these uses is 

often the unwanted or unintentional use of non-native, aggressive plants. Native plants are 

intrinsic to the overall resilience and stability of a region and are a critical component of the 

numerous food and energy cycles that maintain its biological diversity. Native plants help 

maintain a regions important genetic resources and the ecosystems that are a part of that 

regions biological heritage.
NRCS – Texas 2 

Technical Note No: TX-PM-10-6 

So, why do people use non-native plants? Non-native 

plants are often easier to establish than natives, making 

them useful for livestock forage, erosion control and 

highway right-of-ways. Seeds of non-natives are also 

usually less expensive and more readily available than 

natives. However, as Dr. Tim Fulbright of Texas A&MKingsville points out, “aggressive, non-native plants 

reduce plant species diversity, displace and prevent reestablishment of native species and lower soil nitrogen 

and carbon sequestration”. 

Native plants are valued for their long-term economic, 

ecological, genetic and aesthetic benefits in addition to 

the growing belief that they have intrinsic value in and of 

themselves. Native plants provide the essential elements 

for ecosystem health. They are the key to maintaining the 

critical associations with soil mycorrhizae, native 

invertebrates, beneficial insects, and pollinators of flowers 

and important crops. 

SO THE QUESTION IS – WHY NOT NATIVES???

For additional information please contact: 

E. “Kika” de la Garza Plant Materials Center 

3409 N FM 1355

Kingsville, TX 78363-2704

361-595-1313

www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/pmc/kingsville.html 

The NRCS provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and 

environment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternate 

means of communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 

(202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, 

D.C. 20250-9410, or call 800-795-3272 (voice) or 202-720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

Honeybee on roundhead prairie clover, 

Shelly Maher, E. “Kika” de la Garza PMC

Black eyed Susan, Shelly Maher, 

E. “Kika” de la Garza PMC

Queen caterpillar on climbing milkweed, 

Shelly Maher, E. “Kika” de la Garza PMC