Ep. 529 - Native Plants, Habitat, & Infectious Diseases

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Science & Medicine, Natural Sciences

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whether you realize it or not, our lives depend on the native plant communities that comprise and support regional biodiversity. As we lose habitat, we lose species, and we lose the checks and balances that keep the living world functional. Scientists are increasingly uncovering the links between human health issues like infectious diseases and biodiversity loss and that is exactly what Dr. James Shepherd and I discuss in this episode. Join us as we explore the links between habitat loss, native plant communities, and infectious diseases like Lyme disease. This episode was produced in part by Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support indefensive plants.
0:04.2	And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible.
0:08.9	One of the best ways to help keep indefensive plants up and running is to become a patron over at
0:12.9	patreon.com slash indefensive plants.
0:15.7	In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate
0:20.1	podcasts.
0:20.7	It explores a lot of
0:22.1	really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage to growing native plants,
0:26.7	the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much more. It's a heck of a lot of fun.
0:32.0	We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you. So come on and join the Patreon
0:36.1	over at patreon.com slash
0:37.9	indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see
0:41.8	you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the
0:47.6	Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host,
0:52.4	Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week?
0:55.4	We have a very important topic for you today because it's exploring the world of infectious
0:59.8	diseases, especially those born by things like ticks and mosquitoes, things that can
1:04.0	really affect our lives, the lives of our loved ones, the lives of our communities.
1:07.9	And yes, I know this is not an infectious disease podcast, but my guest today
1:11.2	is Dr. James Shepard, who's putting in a monumental effort to help us understand the links between
1:15.5	how we interact with our landscape, everything from mowing our lawns to the plants we choose to put
1:20.4	in our landscapes and their effects on the spread of infectious diseases. His work is absolutely
	...

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