Peter Werner

Institute for Housing and Environment GmbH · Sustainable Development

1. Urban areas are foci for the introduction of non-native plant species, and they often act as launching sites for invasions into the wider environment. Although interest in biological invasions in urban areas is growing rapidly, and the extent and complexity of problems associated with invasions in these systems have increased, data on the compos...

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...

Innerstädtische Quartiere haben im Sinne einer nachhaltigen „Stadt der kurzen Wege“ hohes Potential. Sie sind dicht bebaut und funktionsgemischt. Alles liegt nah beieinander. Autos sind kaum nötig. Die Darmstädter Mollerstadt ist so ein innerstädtisches Quartier mit Potential - sie bringt aber auch eine Reihe von Herausforderungen mit sich. Der Ei...

Begrünung und biologische Vielfalt in der Stadt tragen zu mehr Lebensqualität, Gesundheit und sozialer Integration bei. Obgleich die Integration von biologischer Vielfalt in die Stadtentwicklung zu einem wichtigen Thema nicht nur auf nationaler, sondern auch auf internationaler Ebene geworden ist, werden Schutz und Wiederherstellung der biologische...

Grünflächen und -strukturen in Quartieren bieten Pflanzen und Tieren wichtige Lebensräume und ermöglichen den Menschen Naturerfahrungen in der Stadt. Stadtgrün erbringt vielfältige Leistungen für Klima, Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden. Bislang konzentrierte sich die Erforschung der urbanen Biodiversität auf Parks und öffentliche Grünanlagen. Mit einer...

Unsere Städte und Gemeinden stehen vor vielfältigen Herausforderungen. Dazu zählen etwa die Anpassung an den Klimawandel, die Anpassung technischer und sozialer Infrastruktur oder auch der Verlust der urbanen biologischen Vielfalt. Um sich diesen Herausforderungen stellen zu können, unterstützen Bund und Länder die Kommunen mit umfangreichen Finanz...

Our cities and towns face many challenges. These include adaptation to climate change, the transformation of technical and social infrastructure, and the loss of urban biodiversity. To meet these challenges, federal and state governments support local authorities with extensive grants. The aim is to remedy urban and social ills. To achieve this goa...

The chapter explores the relationship between urban green and biodiversity . Cities are home to a large number of native plant and animal species. Non-native species are an essential component for the species richness in the cities worldwide. The population of animal and plant species is not stable and the number of native species has been declinin...

Cities represent considerable opportunities for forwarding global biodiversity and sustainability goals. We developed key attributes for conserving biodiversity and for ecosystem services that should be included in urban-planning documents and reviewed 135 plans from 40 cities globally. The most common attributes in city plans were goals for habita...

In dem vorliegenden Beitrag ist der Blick auf die Stadt als Lebensraum für Tiere und Pflanzen gerichtet, und nicht auf die globalen Effekte, die Städte auf die biologische Vielfalt ausüben. Städte beherbergen einen großen Anteil der heimischen Tierwelt, und Großstädte sind bezüglich der Pflanzen nicht selten „Hot Spots“. Nicht heimische Arten spiel...

The article explores biodiversity in cities and not the effects that cities have on a global scale. Cities are home to a large number of native animal species and, especially with respect to plants, big cities are often 'hot spots' of biodiversity. Non-native species play an essential role for the species richness in our cities. The population of a...

Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in citie...

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...

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...

Abstract of a paper presented at the 2012 Urban Biodiversity Conference, on 9 October 2012, at IIT-Bombay, India.

Despite the appearance of an enormous number of publications about urban ecology and species diversity, many issues are simply opened up rather than explained. The ecological complexity of urban areas, i.e., the variety of determinants and the spatial and temporal dynamic of cities, preclude simple starting points and lines of explanation. Therefor...

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...

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...

Although many studies have been undertaken and papers published, the understanding of the links between biological diversity and urban areas remains fragmentary and requires a systematic effort to produce a complete picture. The present chapter is a review of the literature, focused almost exclusively on recent publications (published since 2000) o...

Kurzfassung Die von den Städten der Industrieländer ausgehenden Emissionen stellen im Hinblick auf die globalen Belastungen und Ursachen des Treibhauseffektes nach wie vor das Hauptproblem dar. Dies und die weltweit weiter zunehmendeVerstädterung sprechen dafür, mit Strategien und Konzepten zur Reduzierung der Treibhausgasemissionen an urbanen Stru...

The “ecological” city is a goal which will never be completely reached. Nevertheless politics and planning are obliged to approach it as closely as scientific knowledge will allow. Science now has sufficient ecological knowledge to make recommendations both positive and negative. However, there is an urgent need for long term research including not...

The title 'why biotope mapping in populated areas?' is chosen because that is the main question loca l authorities and other people ask when money should be spent for biotope mapping in town s and cities. In order to answer this question two approaches are used, a theoretical approach, and a practical approach based on experiences in Germany. The t...

Meanwhile German nature conservationists frequently use terms like fragmentation, connectivity, and corridors, but terms like matrix, porosity, or makro- and mikroheterogenity are unusual. All these words adopted from landscape ecology describe spatial structures and connections. The discussion about spatial patterns ofhabitats also offers new pers...

Leaf samples of five common species of ruderal plant communities (Artemisia vulgaris, Solidago canadensis, Calamagrostis epigejos, Plantago major, and Robinia pseudoacacia) were collected at eleven industrial areas in Berlin (West) and a control site in the Berlin-Grunewald. Contents of sulfur, fluorine, and heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu) were deter...

1. Lamium galeobdolon (L.) Crantz (shadow plant) and Stellaria holostea L. (half-shadow plant) were cultivated in mixed culture in open air at 100% (full d light) and 1.8% (shadow) relative light intensity, and likewise in climatic chambers under red light (2.7 %), blue light (6.3 %) and red and blue light including a small portion of white light (...

Stellaria utilized higher light intensity very well for dry matter production. There was a rather low increase (1.5 times) of chlorophyll and N content in shade. Lamium did not show the same rate of dry matter increase with light, because it reached light saturation just above 20% of relative light intensity. In the shade, chlorophyll and N content...

A literature review covering aspects of the ecology, wildlife, and conservation of nature in cities worldwide. Covers abiotic factors such as climate, soils and air pollution as well as biotic factors such as flora, forestry, aquatic systems, lichens and vertebrates. Then reviews work on planning, management and education for wildlife conservation...