Backyard Wildlife Habitat

Backyard Wildlife Habitat is a program of the National Wildlife Federation that encourages homeowners in the United States to manage their yards with the goal of maintaining healthy and diverse animal ecosystems. The program began in 1973, by 1998 was known to have impacted more than 21,000 yards, and as of 2006 has certified over 60,000 backyards. [cite web | author=Danforth, Peter | year=2005 | title=An Evaluation of the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitat Program in the Houston Independent School District| format=PDF | work=An Evaluation of the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitat Program in the Houston Independent School District | url=http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/PEEC_Research/0032637E-007EA7AB.9/Danforth%20schoolyard%20habitat%202005.pdf | accessdate=2006-05-25] [cite web | author=Joyce, Stephanie | year=2000 | title=Why the Grass Isn't Always Greener | work=Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 106, Number 8, August 1998 | url=http://www.ehponline.org/docs/1998/106-8/focus.html | accessdate=2006-05-25] [cite web | author = National Wildlife Federation | year=2006 | title=Get Started! Application for Certification | work=Backyard Wildlife Habitat | url=https://secure.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/certify/page1.cfm | accessdate=2006-05-25] To be certified, a yard (any outdoor space from a balcony up to a multi-acre tract of land) must offer food, water, shelter, and a place for raising young to beneficial insects or animals. [cite web | author=Lerner, Joel M. | year=2006 | title=Creating a Backyard Haven for Fauna | work=Washington Post, Saturday, January 7, 2006 | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010600767.html?nav=rss_realestate/own | accessdate=2006-05-25] Over time the Federation has introduced variants or expansions of the program for schoolyards and for communities.

Prior to 2004 there was no scientific study as to whether backyard habitats actually help butterflies. A study published in 2004 of the effect on " Battus philenor" in the San Francisco area found that gardens where the host plants were more than 40 years old, the gardens were as good as natural sites, where the host plants were less than eight years old the species was unlikely to visit, and in between the butterflies laid eggs but these had an inferior survival rate. [cite web | author=Levy, Jacqueline M. and Connor, Edward F. | year=2000 | title=Are gardens effective in butterfly conservation? A case study with the pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor| work=Are gardens effective in butterfly conservation? A case study with the pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor | url=http://www.springerlink.com/(1o5epsfisxgwih554yrkk3j5)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,9;journal,7,36;linkingpublicationresults,1:100177,1 | accessdate=2006-05-25]

References

External links

* [http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/ Official website]