Native plant species are not solely tied to a preindustrial climate, with evidence suggesting rapid microevolutionary changes in oaks in response to recent climate shifts. This challenges the idea that a complete switch to drought-tolerant non-native species is necessary.
Professor Martin Sullivan of Manchester Metropolitan University, writing in The Guardian, highlighted that native oaks support 2,300 other species. He suggested that drought-adapted non-native plants may not be able to replace all these ecological interactions.
Lorraine Du Feu also noted that many native plants are drought-tolerant. She cautioned against abandoning the trend of planting native species, which can provide for all life stages of native insects, not just adults seeking pollen.