Sept. 13 meeting focuses on habitat preservation

Our Kiwanis club learned about the causes of habitat loss and ways to improve habitats and increase biodiversity. Carol Heiser, education manager for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said that there are four main causes for habitat loss including fragmentation from development caused from regional planning , the extensive use of lawns in the environment, invasive exotic plants competing with the natives and the extensive use of non-natives in landscapes. Heiser left educational materials for the membership to take home said that ways to improve biodiversity is to transition from alien to native plants as ornamental, use native plants to interrupt runoff, reduce the amount of lawn in landscapes, utilize corridors to connect natural areas and to plan for sustainability on a regional scale.