Norbert Müller

Urbanization destroys or modifies native habitats and creates new ones with its infrastructure. Because of these changes, urban landscapes favor non-native and native species that are generalists. Nevertheless, cities reveal a great variety of habitats and species, and, especially in temperate cities, the diversity of vascular plants and birds can...

The vegetation of floodplains is compared in central Europe and northern- and central Japan focusing on the questions: - which alien plants have successfully naturalised and where is their native country, - which vegetation types are preferred by invasive plants, - what are the reasons for the fast expansion of aliens in floodplains? In central Eur...

Human Impact in the large European lowlands river ecosystems started in the late days of the Stone Age already, by clearings and agricultural land use including their catchment areas in the low mountain ranges. In contrast major human impacts in alpine river ecosystems have started just since the middle Ages. Nevertheless there were numerous civil...

The URBIO Index is a tool which intends to assist landscape architects, restoration ecologists and other urban designers in their design efforts for a sustainable green infrastructure. With 25 indicators the index enables to evaluate parks under all aspects of sustainability. First ideas for this index emerged in front of the preparation of the fir...

The Tagliamento in Friuli, Italy, is the last large wild river landscape in the Alps that still shows the characteristics that were originally typical for many mountain rivers: an extensive gravel bed with multiple channels, a massive alluvial groundwater body, large amounts of deadwood, and island formations in all stages of development. This crea...

The dwarf bulrush (Typha minima Funk ex Hoppe) is considered as a sensitive target species in natural alpine river landscapes. It disappeared from many rivers due to straightening, thus reintroduction efforts for species conservation have been initiated. Recently, at the Inn river between Stams and Rietz, i.e. a section of about 3 kilometres, the r...

This review analyses the development of three urban biodiversity networks in Germany since 1970. The first network “Biotope Mapping in Populated Areas” (BMPA) was founded by Herbert Sukopp (Berlin) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in connection with the development of the first comprehensive urban ecology studies in Berlin. The aim wa...

Reflecting on the insights from research development within Urban Biodiversity and Design Network (URBIO), this paper attempts to link the consequences of current global changes (ongoing urbanization, biodiversity loss, land-use changes, globalization, etc.) to the emergence and outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyses the main outcomes of t...

Aims: We introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, includ...

The Dwarf bulrush (Typha minima Funck ex Hoppe) is a pioneer plant on gravel and sandbanks of the wild river landscapes of the mountains of Europe and Asia. Like the German tamarisk (Myricaria germanica L. Desv.), it is considered as target species of wild river landscapes. As a perennial, the species reacts even faster to changes in its habitat th...

Wild river landscapes represent unique ecosystems worldwide. Permanent changes due to natural disturbances as well as the short-term alternation of flooding and drought create environmental conditions that are hostile to life. Only specially adapted animal and plant species are able to establish under these stressful conditions. As part of a globa...

Braided rivers are characterised by very high hydro-and morphodynamics. Human impacts altered the natural habitat structures and fluvial processes. In this work we examine to what extent habitat characteristics, species composition and functional plant traits are changed by river degradation. For this purpose, four river sections with different deg...

Gebirgsflüsse gehören zu den am stärksten gefährdeten Ökosystemen der Welt. Staudämme, Ausleitungen, Flussregulierungen und Nutzungen des Umlandes haben zu massiven Veränderungen des Wasser-und Sedimenthaushaltes geführt. Im Rahmen einer global angelegten Studie (Maier et al. 2021) wurde erstmals die weltweite Verbreitung der häufigsten Flusstypen...

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resu...

Long-term analyses of biodiversity data highlight a ‘biodiversity conservation paradox’: biological communities show substantial species turnover over the past century1,2, but changes in species richness are marginal1,3–5. Most studies, however, have focused only on the incidence of species, and have not considered changes in local abundance. Here...

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. Although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resu...

Untersuchungen in Europa haben gezeigt, dass alte und große Parkanlagen Zentren der Biodiversität innerhalb der Städte sein können. Das gilt für die Wildpflanzen und Tiere ebenso wie für die Zierpflanzen. Im Forschungsprojekt „Nachhaltige Gestaltung von Grünanlagen“ sind wir der Frage nachgegangen, wie die Planung, Pflanzenverwendung und Pflege den...

The Dwarf Bulrush (Typha minima Funck ex Hoppe) is target species for braided rivers in the European Alps. In the last century, the species has become extinct along many rivers, subsequently to river engineering. Since this century there is an increasing number of reintroductions mainly in context with river revitalization and – restoration. One of...

Within the EU LIFE project "Dynamic River System Lech" (2017-2021) the Dwarf Bulrush (Typha minima Funck ex Hoppe) was used together with other key species as indicator for the success of the restoration measures. One focus of the species conservation measures of the LIFE project was the reintroduction of the Dwarf Bulrush during five projects of r...

Aim: This chapter provides a global review of the riparian vegetation of the major mountain regions and includes a high proportion of the worldwide braided rivers. The focus is on characteristic and frequent native and invasive non-native plants in the different geomorphological phases of the riparian vegetation communities. Main methods: Nine glob...

•Aim: This analysis explored the worldwide distribution of the river channel types within mountain regions to determine their characteristics on a global scale. Following the general overview, braided rivers were analyzed in more detail. •Main methods: The study area included all 204 major mountain ranges of the world, wherein 120 representative re...

Myricaria germanica (German tamarisk or false tamarisk), Tamaricaceae, is a pioneer shrub native to the Eurasian temperate regions where it colonises gravel bars in braided rivers. Over the past 150 years, human alterations of rivers have caused its dramatic decline in Europe. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on the taxonomy, morph...

Die Stadtbiotopkartierung ist nach der Flachland- und Alpenbiotopkartierung die dritte Säule der erstmaligen Erfassung schutzwürdiger Biotope in Bayern. Die erste umfassende Stadtbiotopkartierung wurde 1979 in Augsburg begonnen. Sie erfolgte auf Initiative der Stadt Augsburg und in den ersten Jahren in fachlicher Abstimmung mit dem Bayerischen Land...

Die Auen der Oberen Isar flussauf des Sylvensteinspeichers zählen trotz verschiedener wasser- und energiewirtschaftlicher Eingriffe bis heute zu den naturschutzfachlich wertvollsten Flächen des Nordalpenraums. Zum ersten Mal für den Alpenbogen haben hier Reich et al. (2008) eine vollständige Zeitreihe über die Auswirkungen verschiedener Bewirtschaf...

Summary: For the endangered species and habitats of alpine braided rivers, the primary responsibility within Germany remains in Bavaria. As a basis for reintroduction projects, the population trends were examined of the indicator species Typha minima, Myricaria germanica and Calamagrostis pseudophragmites. Along the rivers Lech, Ammer, Loisach, Isa...

Die Auenökosysteme der Alpenflüsse zeichnen sich durch das Wechselspiel von Wachstum und Zerstörung aus. Standorte und deren Lebewelt kommen und gehen rasch. Die Erfolgsstrategie der Lebewesen ist durch ein schnelles "Besetzen" von neu geschaffenen Kies- und Sandflächen ("first come, first served") gekennzeichnet.

Lawns - that means frequent cut (10 - 15 times a year) grasslands - are the most widely distributed plant communities in urban areas. Due to the high cutting frequency, they have in general a low plant biodiversity and are of small value for wildlife. With the aim to enrich biodiversity in parks in the 80th of the last century the city Augsburg s...

Die Alpenflüsse und ihre Auen gehören zu den gefährdetsten Ökosystemen in Europa. Sie beherbergen eine große Zahl spezialisierter und gefährdeter Wildflussarten. Deren Schutz und Wiederansiedlung ist Teil des aktuellen Projekts „Alpenflusslandschaften – Vielfalt leben von Ammersee bis Zugspitze“ aus dem Bundesprogramm Biologische Vielfalt. Ziel die...

Ein Spezifikum der Fließgewässer in den Alpen sind die kurzen, jedoch häufigen Hochwasserspitzen und in Verbindung mit dem hohen Geschiebetrieb eine extreme Morphodynamik. Diese bestimmt die Wuchsbedingungen und vor allem das Störungsregime der Auen. Die Lebensgemeinschaften sind an die von Störung und Zerstörung ausgelösten Veränderungen in der Ze...

Innerhalb Deutschlands hat Bayern die Haupt- bis Alleinverantwortung für stark gefährdete Arten und Lebensräume der alpinen Wildflusslandschaften. Als Grundlage für Wiederansiedlungsprojekte wurde die Populationsentwicklung der Indikatorarten Typha minima, Myricaria germanica und Calamagrostis pseudophragmites untersucht. An Lech, Ammer, Loisach, I...

The EU Habitats Directive demands monitoring and managing its Annex species and habitats. In this session, we will discuss this subject area for Alpine rivers. The special focus will be on key species and their habitat types 3220, 3230, 3240 “Alpine rivers” and 7240* and 91E0. Within the last EU Habitats Directive, Article 17 Reporting, the conserv...

The URBIO Index is a tool which intends to assist landscape architects, restoration ecologists and other urban designers in their design efforts for a sustainable green infrastructure. With 25 indicators the index enables to evaluate parks under all aspects of sustainability. First ideas for this index emerged in front of the preparation of the fir...

We dedicate this special feature to the forerunners of urban vegetation science: Wolfram Kunick (Bornheim, Germany) and Herbert Sukopp (Berlin, Germany). Foreword: The loss of biodiversity, the impact of climate change, and the growth of the world’s urban population, the main challenges of this century for life on earth, are all strongly interconn...

When considering the most frequent invasive exotic plants on an international scale, it is evident that the majority are ornamentals and that they were deliberately introduced in relation to landscape design. Although there are worldwide numerous lists of invasive exotic plants—which means plants that have harmful effects on native biodiversity—an...

Against the background of rapid urban growth and its negative influence on natural resources, a Major Group 'Global Partnership on Cities and Subnational Action for Biodiversity' was founded during the 9th Conference of the Parties (Bonn 2008) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This group comprises UN institutions (e. g. UNESCO) non-governm...

Dwarf Bulrush (Typha minima Hoppe), a specialist of natural riverine landscapes, is endangered throughout Europe. In Austria, Tiroler Lech Nature Park is one of only a few places where this rare plant species still occurs. More than ten years ago, a species conservation programme was initiated aimed at protecting the remaining populations and ensur...

Keynote abstract URBIO conference 2014

The biodiversity of large rivers in the European Alps has been altered severely within the last 100 years, due to civil engineering measures. Only along the Tagliamento river in northern Italy, all typical floodplain habitats and key species of an European alpine river and its foreland are remained almost completely . Since 1992 we are investigati...

The technical report (in German) was prepared on request of the Tyrolean Government. After a questionary the latest scientific knowledge was compiled according the distribution and decline of Myricaria germanica Desv. in the European alps, the geographical variaty of the EU Union habitats with Myricaria germanica (3230) and the related habitats (32...

In den Jahren 2006, 2007, 2011 und 2014 haben sich Studierende der Fachhochschule Erfurt im Rahmen des Seminars Landschaftspflege mit dem Europäischen Naturerbe in Thüringen beschäftigt. Das Seminar im 6. Semester Landschaftsarchitektur verfolgte das Ziel, den Stand der Umsetzung der FFH Richtlinie in Thüringen zu recherchieren und für die Öffentl...

Urbanization destroys or modifies native habitats and creates new ones with its infrastructure. Because of these changes, urban landscapes favor non-native and native species that are generalists. Nevertheless, cities reveal a great variety of habitats and species, and, especially in temperate cities, the diversity of vascular plants and birds can...

Presentation on the 1. SURE Conference, Berlin, 27. July 2013: The Convention on Biological Diversity’s "Plan of Action on Sub-National Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity 2011-2020" established guidelines for national governments to follow in order, among other things, to assist cities to address the challenges of urba...

Das Kapitel ist ein Beitrag des Authors, den er für das Arten- und Biotopschutzprogramm der Stadt Augsburg erstellt hat. Das Arten- und Biotopschutzprogramm der Stadt Augsburg wurde vom Büro Dr. H. M. Schober in 85354 Freising bearbeitet und vom Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Gesundheit herausgegeben.

Urban parks can be invasion sources through planting of introduced taxa. On the other hand, parks may act as hot spots of biodiversity in urban areas and can support the preservation of endangered and rare taxa. Even if historic urban parks are evaluated first of all as heritage sites, they are also credited for their ecosystem services and positiv...

Colonial garden architecture with associated use of non-native plant species influences the identity of many tropical cities. In Indonesia, colonial planners argued for planting both native and non-native species. It remains unclear how far this suggestion was implemented in urban parks and if species proposed in colonial period still occur in the...

We provide a brief description of the roots, history and activities of the International Network in Urban Biodiversity and Design (URBIO). The network for education and research has its roots in Germany and was founded during the first URBIO conference in Erfurt, Germany, in 2008 with the aim of promoting urban biodiversity and design through a con...

Plants and Habitats of European Cities is another important step towards the full understanding of the natural history of European cities. It is unique in describing , for the first time in a single volume, the flora and plant communities that occur in 16 cities of the European peninsula from London to Sofia and from Almeria to St. Petersburg. Wit...

The book Plants and Habitats of European Cities is unique in describing , for the first time in a single volume, the flora and plant communities that occur in 16 cities of the European peninsula from London to Sofia and from Almeria to St. Petersburg. The chapters written by totally 25 experts start with a description of the natural features and hi...

Climate change, loss of biodiversity and the growth of an increasingly urban world population are main challenges of this century. With two-thirds of a considerably larger world population predicted to be living in urban areas by 2050, we argue that urban biodiversity, that means the biodiversity within towns and cities, will play an important role...

The biological and economic effects of invasive plants are much more important in the new world than in the old. When considering and comparing large cities as the main drivers of this process, the proportion of non-native species in the cities of the United States (32%) is not significantly different from that found in European cities (25%). It wa...

Until recently there have been few studies of the biological diversity of house-gardens although they are the most abundant and widespread aspect of urban biodiversity and the most frequent in terms of the daily contact that people have with nature. Therefore gardens are the most suitable places to make people aware of the importance of biodiversit...

With the continual growth of the world's urban population, biodiversity in towns and cities will play a critical role in global biodiversity. This is the first book to provide an overview of international developments in urban biodiversity and sustainable design. It brings together the views, experiences and expertise of leading scientists and desi...

The Tagliamento River in the Southern Alps (Friaul) is the last large river in Europe where all natural riparian habitats can be found extensively and river-dynamic processes still run large- scaled. It is the biggest coherent flood plain system within the European Habitat Directive Network - NATURA 2000 ( Müller 2005) and is regarded the most impo...

Die biologische Vielfalt von Hausgärten ist bislang kaum untersucht, obwohl gerade sie der Teil der urbanen Biodiversität ist, die am häufigsten in Städten vorkommt und mit der der Stadtbewohner ständig Kontakt hat. Sie ist darum besonders geeignet, um die Menschen für die Bedeutung der biologischen Vielfalt zu sensibilisieren. Hausgärten weisen ne...

Although there are numerous studies in Europe on the design, philosophies and historical background of parks as well as their biological diversity, little research has posed the question of how landscape design principles have influenced the biological conservation value of parks. Because the landscape park style was one of the most influential his...

Typha minima Hoppe (Typhaceae) is regarded as one of the most important management indicator species for braided rivers in the Alps.This paper presents - actual information about the distribution of the last populations and the responsibility for the species within the European Union, - knowledge about the biology of the species, - first results fr...

Der Kleine Rohrkolben (Typha minima Hoppe) ist eine gefährdete Pflanzenart, die ursprünglich in Wildflusslandschaften in den Alpen-ländern beheimatet war. Wir stellen diesen seltenen Auenbewohner vor und erläutern aktuelle Kenntnisse zu Verbreitung, Lebensraum-ansprüchen, biologischem und genetischem Hintergrund sowie zu Wiederansiedlungsprojekten....

Mit der Ratifizierung der Biodiversitätskonvention von Rio de Janeiro hat sich Deutschland verpflichtet Maßnahmen zur Sicherung und nachhaltigen Nutzung der biologischen Vielfalt im Sinne der Konvention umzusetzen. Während in der freien Landschaft in diesem Zusammenhang bereits eine Reihe von Instrumenten und Programmen existieren, fehlen für den b...

Die Sonderstellung des Tagliamento als Referenzökosystem für alpine Flusslandschaften in Europa wurde bereits in den 90er Jahren herausgestellt und darum die Aufnahme in das globale Netz der UNESCO Biosphärenreservate vorgeschlagen (vgl. Jahrbuch u. Tagliamento-Sonderdruck des Vereins zum Schutz der Bergwelt 1995). Dieser Vorschlag wartet bis heute...

Urban nature conservation issues in South Africa are overshadowed by the goal to improve human well-being, which focuses on aspects such as poverty, equity, redistribution of wealth and wealth creation. The growing need for urban employment is closely associated with the increase of squatting and informal settlements along the urban fringe, which c...

In diesem Bericht werden die Langzeituntersuchungen von Dauerflächen zur Renaturierung und Pflege von Lechhaiden im Naturschutzgebiet Stadtwald Augsburg ausgewertet. Seit 1984 wurden zur Effizienzkontrolle von Landschaftspflegemaßnahmen vom Amt für Grünordnung und Naturschutz der Stadt Augsburg fortlaufend geobotanische Dauerflächen eingerichtet. D...

Gravel bars sparsely covered with herbaceous and shrubby pioneer vegetation are a typical habitat of braided rivers all over the world. Under natural conditions there grow a lot of highly specialised species which seem to have special strategies to survive the strong disturbances caused by the river-dynamics and to recolonise newly created gravel b...

Die 48. Jahrestagung der Floristisch-soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft fand in Augsburg statt, ein Tagungsort, der sich als Ausgangspunkt für Exkursionen ins Alpenvorland und in die Nördlichen Kalkalpen im besonderen Maße eignet. Entlang dem aus den Alpen kommenden Lech wurde ein repräsentativer Querschnitt der Vegetation gezeigt. Exkursionspunkte...

Riparian landscapes are dynamic ecosystems. Under natural conditions there is a high disturbance of the floodplain vegetation by the dynamic of flooding and the erosion and accumulation of bedloads. Today in most river ecosystems natural disturbances are altered or replaced by human disturbances due to civil engineering measures. Flood controlling...

Biotope mapping involves an investigation of flora, vegetation, fauna and their habitats within the context of nature conservation. Biotope mapping is done in many European cities. The results are an important basis for nature conservation and infrastructure planning. In contrast, similar standardized investigations so far do not exist in Japan. Th...

Das Naturschutzgebiet "Stadtwald Augsburg" umfasst die auf nacheiszeitlichen Schottern liegende Lechauen im Süden des Augsburger Stadtgebietes und ist das größte Naturschutzgebiet im außeralpinen Schwaben. Mit allen Biotoptypen einer voralpinen Auenlandschaft sowie zahlreichen seltenen und gefährdeten Pflanzen- und Tierarten ist es für den Natursch...

Zusammenfassung/Abstract 1. Zusammenfassung Flüsse und ihre Auenlebensräume zählen heute in Europa zu den am stärksten veränderten Land¬schaftsräumen. Ebenso wie die großen Auen der Mittelgebirgsflüsse hat der Mensch die Auen der Alpenflüsse - die alpinen Wildflußlandschaften - durch verschiedene Eingriffe beeinflußt. Im Gegen¬satz zu den Mittelg...

Bereits auf dem Satellitenbild der Alpen sind die Dimensionen des Flußgebietes des Tagliamento in den Südalpen zu erahnen. Als weißes Band zeichnen sich seine weiten Schotterfelder deutlich ab. Fast auf seiner gesamten Länge von der Quelle in den Südalpen bis zur Mündung ins Mittelmeer fließt der mächtige Fluß noch ungebändigt dahin. Damit ist er d...

Zusammenfassung Bis ins 19. Jahrhundert war Veronica filiform is nur als Endemit für das pontisch-kaukasisch-armenische Gebirge bekannt. Heute ist sie innerhalb des sommergrünen Laubholzgürtels in vielen Gebieten Europas und Nordamerikas eine häufige Art mit fortschreitender Ausbreitung. Obwohl die Pflanze bereits 1780 in England eingeführt und spo...

Impact of civil engineering works on river dynamics and floodplain vegetation at the Lech river — an evaluation after 100 years of hydraulic engineering at a northern alpine river Natural alpine river landscapes with a strongly braided course were once a characteristic element of alpine and prealpine areas. Consequent civil engineering works over...