It's called leaf litter, but the multi-colored fall foliage covering your lawn is anything but trash.

It’s habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects, many of which rely on leaves for protection from predators and insulation against the bitter cold of winter. Under the cover of a layer of leaves, there can be adults, larvae and eggs of insects like butterflies, bees and moths, said Kaitlin Stack Whitney, assistant professor and head of the Stack/Whitney Collaborative of Entomology, Environment and Technology at RIT.

“It's not actually just about the leaves,” Stack Whitney said. “It’s also about thinking about leaving things like sticks and logs. It’s thinking more about our yards and our spaces around us as natural spaces, and that maybe leaving them ‘less tidy’ can actually be

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