Photograph by Matthew Suárez

What happens when the bees, butterflies, and beetles, who pollinate 75 percent of our food crops, which are also the crops animals eat, become critically endangered?

Please don’t step on the bugs

Thank you for your article on the importance of bugs to our own health and food supply (“San Diego’s changing bugs,” Cover Stories, November 20). San Diego would see a miraculous explosion of biodiversity and the health of our ecosystem just by people removing nonnative plants from their yards and restoring with natives. Unfortunately, people also do not realize when they use poisons, herbicides, trample the earth, etc, that the causalities include our food supply.

At Mt. Helix Park, we have seen a miraculous comeback in wildlife from the smallest to the largest creatures by restoring native plants and therefore the habitat. I often feel like Snow White walking through our park. The California Native Plant Society has a wonderful local chapter. I only recently began my education and am amazed at how just the disappearance or lack of availability of one native plant type can cause an entire species of butterfly to disappear.

I am also glad you spoke of the “crypto-biotic crust” and this why it is SO important for people to STAY ON TRAIL at nature parks. You don’t see what you are killing under the dirt. We are so blessed to have volunteers helping us restore our native habitat and we hope to educate the community of San Diego in the importance of creating “pollinator pathways” out of native species in their own yards. Bring your yard back to life and reap the benefits because native plants are also water-wise! Thank you again for your article.

• Krista Powers
• La Mesa