Hi Wisconsitom,

Thanks for your insight. I suppose what I'm trying to determine is whether or not local wildlife could be negatively effected by my plantings—say, a deer browsing the leaves of Ohio Buckeye, which leafs out early in the season. I figure that livestock are so domesticated (and mostly foreign) that they have little in the way of instinct for what's safe to eat. But I wonder if a deer or raccoon would know better, despite not being exposed to these plants before. How does instinct work? Is it localized to regions or across an entire species (i.e. would a deer living in northern Ontario know not to eat buckeye leaves the way a deer living in Ohio would)?

Interesting about the reserve that's planting Sycamore! The woods where I'm planting are probably tertiary growth (having been clearcut at least twice) but are healthily dominated by Northern Red Oak, Red Maple, White Pine and Red Pine. They also have a wide mix of other lesser dominant species (Basswood, Birch, Sugar Maple, Beech, Butternut, Hemlock, Black Cherry, Ash, Elm...).

My reasons for planting more southerly species are the climate change ones (assisted migration). I'm quite concerned about the fragility of our forests. While the forest I'm in is doing well at the moment, we have all kinds of pests and pathogens heading our way as the climes warm (we're currently losing our American beech). So, my gently adding a number of species, is my way of offering new possibilities to the plot of land—sort of adding to the genetic lottery with species more adapted to hot, dry summers, for example. I'm also adding a lot of fruiting species that I can eventually benefit from. Ultimately, though, it's a hobby.

Anyway, thanks again for your insight. Would be fascinated to chat more, if you see this.

Mike

I am akin to you in that I don't believe "preservation" of existing plant communities is going to be completely possible going forward, and that further, some purposeful human experimentation is not only OK, it is desirable. As such, we may well be in the minority in places like native plant forums! In any case, where I'm at, I am using hybrid larch as one of my main timber species, and they are, of course, completely exotic, as are the neighboring Norway spruce we've planted en masse. But there's a fully intact native swamp conifer forest right nearby, also on the property, and in my head, those exotic elements I've brought in add to the tableau, not detract from it. And this is, of course, in at least one sense, more extreme than what you propose, which is to introduce an element which is at least already present on the continent. So you are talking to no purist here. That said, I'm in a very "northerly" feeling zone with my woods and property, and all my goals are in that direction, at least aesthetically. We're really doing afforestation though, and only slightly altering the existing wooded portion. There, white pine, white cedar, paper birch make up most of the woods, but there are a number of other items. I think the introductions we've made there also offer "more possibilities", exactly the phrase I would have used. Bravo! I think we conservationists need to "be in the flow" more, not just be people perceived as holding our hands up to stop various activities. I think for this thing (civilization) to work, we're going to need to get people excited about bold new agendas and ideas, not just blab about climate change. That just overwhlms and puts people to sleep. anyway, I like your thought processes.

Wisconsitom, I'm definitely with you about the importance of offering solutions, at least as much as we point out the danger of climate change and other environmental risk. Your afforestation sounds interesting! I take it that it's ultimately for selective harvest?

In its original conception, this was to be a 100% "biological" planting, meaning we were planting the trees for their own intrinsic value. That said, some thinning is likely to take place, and if we are able to market some material, that could happen. We also may someday make our own log cabin at that location...or more likely, one of my kids might want to some day. Time will tell. In any case, yes, this is a mixture of conservation and commerce.

Better safe than sorry.If you know it's poisonous to certain wildlife why plant it? Enough dangerous plants are already around due to human ignorance.Surely there must be native alternatives that are rare to your location that are good for the wildlife.Duh!

If you find a lot of animal carcusses near your trees you will know it was a bad idea.

A bit melodramatic I think^. Even the word "poisonous" is rarely used correctly. It means "acutely toxic" meaning death or serious injury occurs more or less immediately upon ingestion. There are VERY few plants capable of that, in any system. So what we're really talking about is toxicity, slow or long-term. And the OP is suggesting nothing that would lead to "a lot of animal carcasses near your trees". Duh!

Jaybirdyj, the two tree species I'm talking about planting are native an hour or so, south. So what I'm doing is not so much introducing an exotic, as I am migrating a native a bit further north (in many cases, these species already existed in the north before the last ice age forced them south). My concern here is not that that bodies are going to start piling up, but more a matter of understanding how adaptation to toxicity works. If an Eastern Grey squirrel in Ohio can eat the nuts of buckeye without experiencing toxicity, does that mean an Eastern Grey squirrel in a region of Ontario (where buckeyes don't currently exist) can do the same? Or have they evolved separately?

I was just giving you a worst case scenario.If they are only an hour or two from native habitat I would not even worry at all about it.The wild animals and insects have adaptations that allow them to recognize or neutralize plant toxins.Forget about it.I care about your feelings too and don't want to see you regretting something you did.Trees can live for a very long time so it's important not to plant doubts along with them.Happy gardening.