Rhizome Restoration

Trust & credibility

References and Citations

The research, publications, and organizations that inform the Rhizome Restoration curriculum and ecological claims.

References and Citations

About our curriculum

Rhizome Restoration's science curriculum was developed in partnership with the EcoRestoration Alliance and draws on peer-reviewed ecological research, published books, and trusted conservation resources. The following sources informed our lesson content, quiz questions, and ecological claims. We are grateful to the researchers, scientists, and organizations whose work forms the foundation of what we teach.

Primary Sources

Douglas Tallamy, University of Delaware

  • Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants. Timber Press, 2007.
  • Tallamy, Douglas W. Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press, 2019.
  • Tallamy, Douglas W. and Rick Darke. The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Timber Press, 2014.
  • Tallamy, Douglas W. and Kimberley Shropshire. Ranking Lepidopteran Use of Native Versus Introduced Plants. Conservation Biology, 2009. This peer-reviewed study established the foundational data on caterpillar host plant specialization referenced throughout our curriculum.
  • Tallamy, Douglas W., et al. Keystone Plants for Wildlife. Published through the National Wildlife Federation and Homegrown National Park initiative. This research identified the small number of native plant genera that support the majority of local butterfly and moth species.

EcoRestoration Alliance

  • EcoRestoration Alliance. Mission, Science Framework, and Restoration Principles. ecorestorationalliance.org.
  • EcoRestoration Alliance. Cooling Climate Quickly: The Case for Ecosystem Restoration as Climate Strategy. ERA Whitepaper. Note: This document represents ERA's scientific perspective and advocacy position. Some claims within it reflect emerging or contested science and are presented in our curriculum as ERA's view rather than settled consensus.

National Wildlife Federation

  • National Wildlife Federation. Native Plant Finder: Keystone Plants by Ecoregion. nwf.org/NativePlantFinder. The NWF Native Plant Finder tool, which Rhizome Restoration members use to identify appropriate species for their ecoregion, incorporates Tallamy's keystone plant research into a publicly accessible database organized by zip code.
  • National Wildlife Federation. Why Native Plants Matter. nwf.org. Source for statistics on native plant wildlife support and the ecological value of native landscaping.

Homegrown National Park

  • Tallamy, Douglas W. Homegrown National Park Initiative. homegrownnationalpark.org. The Homegrown National Park concept, which calls for converting half of America's lawn area to native plant communities, is referenced throughout our curriculum as a framework for understanding the scale of the restoration opportunity.

Scientific Studies

Peer-reviewed research

  • Hallmann, Caspar A., et al. More Than 75 Percent Decline Over 27 Years in Total Flying Insect Biomass in Protected Areas. PLOS ONE, 2017. This landmark study documenting dramatic insect decline in protected natural areas is referenced in our Sprout Level curriculum.
  • Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. IPBES, 2019. Referenced in our discussion of biodiversity loss and ecosystem services.
  • Penn State Center for Pollinator Research. Native Plants and Pollinators Research. pollinator.psu.edu. Source for the statistic that native plants are four times more attractive to pollinators than non-native species.
  • Fowler, Jarrod. Pollen Specialist Bees of the United States. Published research on native bee dietary specialization referenced in our discussion of pollinator ecology.

Government and Institutional Sources

Federal agencies

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency. Level II Ecoregions of North America. epa.gov. The EPA ecoregion framework is the basis for Rhizome Restoration's ecoregion identification system, which assigns each member's local ecoregion based on their zip code.
  • United States Geological Survey. Environmental DNA: Transforming How We Monitor, Protect, and Restore Native Species. usgs.gov. Referenced in our Branch Level curriculum discussion of eDNA as a citizen science tool.

Citizen Science Platforms Referenced

Monitoring and observation programs

  • iNaturalist. inaturalist.org. Referenced as a citizen science tool for species identification and biodiversity observation.
  • The Great Sunflower Project. greatsunflower.org. Referenced as a model citizen science pollinator monitoring program.
  • Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. monarchlab.org. Referenced as a model longitudinal citizen science program.
  • National Audubon Society. Christmas Bird Count. audubon.org. Referenced as an example of long-running citizen science generating scientifically meaningful datasets.

Native Plant Advocacy Resources

Policy and community organizing

  • Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes. wildones.org. Referenced in our Canopy Level advocacy curriculum as a source of model native plant ordinances that municipalities can adopt.
  • Native Plant Conservation Campaign. nativeplantsocietyofus.org. Referenced for information on state laws protecting native plant gardens.
  • Pollinator Partnership. pollinator.org. Referenced for guidance on navigating HOA rules and advocating for pollinator gardens.

A Note on Scientific Currency

Ecological science is an active and evolving field. The research referenced in this curriculum represents our best understanding as of the date of publication. We are committed to updating our curriculum as new research emerges, particularly in partnership with ERA-affiliated researchers who are active in the field. If you are a researcher or educator who has identified an error or an important update to our content please contact us at rhizomerestoration.org/contact.