Turbulence: White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricate)

The threatened White Wood Aster grows in the Carolinian wetland forests of Pelham, Niagara, Ontario, where it survives with cohabiting species. A symbiosis has formed between the aster and our backyard wind turbines.

However, a housing development has recently assumed a large portion of the 75-acre wetland. The activity of human and domestic animals exposes this threatened species to trampling, herbicides, and the invasion of non-native species. With the decrease in habitat, there is also insufficient moisture during the increasingly dry summers—all the basis for a call to action. The symbiotic relationship between aster and turbine formed a creative “storyline.” What if the propellers dispersed seeds far and wide?