Sascha Buchholz

• Prof. Dr.
• Professor (Full) at University of Münster

Urbanization as a major driver of global change modifies biodiversity patterns and the abundance and interactions among species or functional species groups. For example, urbanization can negatively impact both predator–prey and mutualistic relationships. However, empirical studies on how urbanization modifies biotic, particularly multitrophic, int...

Aim To inform evidence‐based conversation strategies this study aims to assess habitat suitability and connectivity for the Sand Lizard ( Lacerta agilis ) at its northwestern distribution limit by integrating remote sensing data, machine learning techniques, and citizen science contributions. Comprehending the population dynamics of the Sand Lizard...

Urbanisation generally leads to a loss of taxonomic and functional diversity in almost all animal taxa, yet a mosaic of highly variable habitats within the urban matrix could offer a diversity of insect prey to highly mobile predators such as bats. We therefore asked if insect-feeding bats change in trophic interactions along rural–urban gradients....

Movement performance of insects is an important measure of physiological fitness and is likely affected by novel stressors associated with global change. Reduced fitness can lead to smaller foraging areas and thus to decreasing abundance, diversity and nutritional quality, which could weaken insect populations and contribute to global insect declin...

Urbanization has far‐reaching consequences on birds, and knowledge of the impacts on taxonomic and functional diversity is necessary to make cities as compatible as possible for species. Avian diversity in parks in urban centers has been investigated multiple times, but rarely so in long‐term studies due to lacking data. The Tiergarten in Berlin is...

Urban land use is regarded as one major driver for insect declines worldwide. We investigated how Orthoptera diversity and traits respond to the urban matrix and local vegetation parameters. Orthoptera were collected using a combined method of box‐quadrat sampling and pitfall trapping. We sampled 42 dry grasslands in Berlin, Germany, along gradient...

Urban ecology is a rapidly growing research field that has to keep pace with the pressing need to tackle the sustainability crisis. As an inherently multidisciplinary field with close ties to practitioners and administrators, research synthesis and knowledge transfer between those different stakeholders is crucial. Knowledge maps can enhance knowle...

Although species identification apps are becoming increasingly popular in citizen science, they are hardly used in university courses on biodiversity literacy. In this study, we investigated whether the use of a plant identification app by students provides similar data quality to the use of scientific keys and whether it improves the process of kn...

Insect-provided pollination services are increasingly threatened due to alarming declines in insect pollinator populations. One of the main threats to insect pollinators and consequently pollination is urbanisation. Here, we investigate the effects of local habitat quality (patch size, flowering plant richness, bare soil cover, vegetation structure...

The insect crisis, as conservation topic, has historically received little attention among the general public. Yet, the publication “More than 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas” by Hallmann et al. gained vast media coverage in Germany in October 2017. Given the media's known influence on public perception,...

Urban gardens can support diverse bee communities through resource provision in resource poor environments. Yet the effects of local habitat and landscape factors on wild bee communities in cities is still insufficiently understood, nor is how this information could be applied to urban wildlife conservation. Here we investigate how taxonomic and fu...

Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micr...

This study highlights the potential of urban dry grasslands for diverse pollinator communities of wild bees and hoverflies, including rare and endangered species. By using pan trap sampling on 49 study sites distributed across the urban environment, responses of wild bee and hoverfly communities to urban features at two spatial scales (urban matrix...

Wild boar is increasingly establishing populations in the outskirts of European cities, with the largest German urban population occurring in Berlin. Related soil disturbance in grasslands is common and often considered as damage to biodiversity. However, it is unknown how animal and plant species in urban grasslands respond to wild boar activity -...

Plant communities in urban gardens consist of cultivated species, including ornamentals and food crops, and wild growing species. Yet it remains unclear what significance urban gardens have for the plant diversity in cities and how the diversity of cultivated and wild plants depends on the level of urbanization. We sampled plants growing within 18...

Pollen allergies have been on the rise in cities, where anthropogenic disturbances, warmer climate and introduced species are shaping novel urban ecosystems. Yet, the allergenic potential of these urban ecosystems, in particular spontaneous vegetation outside parks and gardens, remains poorly known. We quantified the allergenic properties of 56 dry...

Cities are considered important refuges for insect pollinators. This has been shown repeatedly for wild bees, but may also be true for other diverse taxa such as hoverflies. However, our understanding of how urban environmental filters shape pol-linator species communities and their traits is still limited. Here, we used wild bee and hoverfly speci...

Urbanisation is known to change biodiversity patterns and plant–animal interactions such as pollination – a key ecological process. Floral traits like colour, size or UV‐patterns are essential attractors for many pollinators. It is largely unknown, though, how the distribution of such floral traits within plant communities changes along an urbanisa...

The urban heat island (UHI) effect remains a major threat to society as cities densify and sprawl. Urban greening through local to landscape management is a proposed strategy to combat UHI and improve environmental justice in city neighborhoods. For example, urban community gardens are multifunctional green spaces that play an important role for bi...

Vor dem Hintergrund des kontinuierlichen Rückgangs an potenziellen Quartieren von Fledermäusen in der Stadt, kommen Fledermauskästen als möglichen Ersatzquartieren eine immer größere Bedeutung zu. Inwiefern diese im urbanen Raum von Fledermäusen genutzt werden, ist jedoch nur wenig bekannt, da sich bisherige Studien überwiegend auf die Untersuchun...

Natural rivers offer riparian habitats to many highly specialised, rare, and endangered insect species and are extremely important for ecosystem services. In the past, these ecosystems have been heavily degraded by anthropogenic use and run the risk of losing their favourable ecological conditions. For this reason, restoration measures are urgently...

Urbanization is occurring around the globe, changing environmental conditions and influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Urban domestic gardens represent a small-grained mosaic of diverse habitats for numerous species. The challenging conditions in urban gardens support species possessing certain traits, and exclude other species. Functi...

Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micr...

Dog walking is a highly popular leisure activity in cities around the globe. It is also a controversial issue for urban conservation and green space management due to presumed ecological impacts of dogs. Yet regulations allowing or prohibiting the presence of dogs in areas of conservation concern are rarely based on demonstrated effects of dogs on...

Cities are home to both a majority of the world’s human population, and to a diversity of wildlife. Urban wildlife conservation research and policy has importantly furthered ecological understanding and species protection in cities, while also leveraging wildlife conservation to connect people to urban nature. Thus, urban wildlife conservation inte...

Road corridors are important conduits for plant invasions, and an understanding of the underlying mechanisms is necessary for efficient management of invasive alien species in road networks. Previous studies identified road type with different traffic volumes as a key driver of seed dispersal and abundance of alien plants along roads. However, how...

The increase in artificial light at night (ALAN) is widely considered as a major driver for the worldwide decline of nocturnal pollinators such as moths. However, the relationship between light and trees as ‘islands of shade’ within urban areas has not yet been fully understood. Here, we studied (1) the effects of three landscape variables, i.e. so...

Near-natural or semi-natural forests such as relatively undisturbed and old deciduous or mixed woodland are considered worth protecting and ecologically valuable habitats for bat conservation. In contrast, mono-specific forest plantations are considered ecologically less valuable; thus, decision-makers recommend these plantations as suitable locati...

Effects of distance to the city centre (three classes) on the Sørensen-indices of species compositions of gastropods (a), spiders (b), millipedes (c), woodlice (d), ants (e), and rove beetles (f). The Sørensen-indices of species compositions were calculated for all combinations of each two gardens belonging to the same distance class. Different let...

Effects of percentage of sealed area within a radius of 200 m (three classes) on the Sørensen-indices of species compositions of gastropods (a), spiders (b), millipedes (c), woodlice (d), ants (e), and rove beetles (f). The Sørensen-indices of species compositions were calculated for all combinations of each two gardens belonging to the same distan...

Results of constrained analyses of principle coordinates visualizing similarities in species compositions of gastropods (a), spiders (b), millipedes (c), woodlice (d), ants (e), and rove beetles (f) in gardens with different percentages of sealed area within a radius of 200 m (three classes). Dark red refers to gardens with a high percentage of sea...

Summaries of GLMs testing the effects of landscape factors (distance to city centre or percentage of sealed area in the surroundings), garden size (area with vegetation) and local garden characteristics, as well as of the interaction between the landscape factors and garden size on species richness and abundance of different taxonomical groups.

Aim We analysed the role of species interactions in wildlife community responses to urbanization. Specifically, we investigated non‐trophic associations within a bird community and the role of trophic interactions in the responses of bird species to the urbanization gradient. Location City‐state of Berlin, Central Europe. Methods Arthropod and bi...

Urbanisation is increasing worldwide and is regarded a major driver of environmental change altering local species assemblages. Private domestic gardens contribute a significant share of total green area in cities, but their biodiversity has received relatively little attention. Previous studies mainly considered plants, flying invertebrates such a...

Near-natural rivers and riparian ecosystems can represent biodiversity hotspots harbouring many highly specialised, rare and endangered species. During the past centuries, these habitats have been heavily degraded by anthropogenic use, and therefore river restoration is one of the most striking fields of action that is legally defined by the Europe...

A functional ecological understanding of urban wild bee communities is of growing importance especially in regard to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service maintenance and effective conservation programmes. In this paper, we review and summarize the published literature aiming to inform future research investigations in the growing field of w...

A single specimen of Anotylus politus was captured in Riehen (BS) in 2014. This is the first record of the species in Switzerland.

A functional ecological understanding of urban wild bee communities is of growing importance especially in regard to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service maintenance and effective conservation programmes. In this paper, we review and summarize the published literature aiming to inform future research investigations in the growing field of w...

The Galapagos archipelago is an ideal location for studying species differentiation on oceanic islands due to its isolation and geological youth. Spiders, as early colonisers, are good model organisms to understand these processes. The aim of this study is to update the list of spiders found in Galapagos and investigate the current distribution pat...

Anthropogenic changes in climate, land use and disturbance regimes, as well as introductions of non‐native species can lead to the transformation of many ecosystems. The resulting novel ecosystems are usually characterized by species assemblages that have not occurred previously in a given area. Quantifying the ecological novelty of communities (i....

Von Mai bis Juli und von September bis Oktober 2017 wurde auf 52 ausgewählten Sandtrockenrasen in Berlin und Brandenburg mittels Bodenfallen die Kurzflügelkäferfauna erfasst. Dabei konnten insgesamt 111 Arten nachgewiesen werden. Fünfzehn Arten werden in der Roten Liste Berlin (Kategorien 0–3) geführt. Falagrioma thoracica (Stephens, 1832) und Rabi...

While cities are known as important habitats for wild bees, a conceptual understanding of how assemblages of wild bee species are shaped by urban environments is limited. We applied a functional approach to test how taxonomic and functional diversity within wild bee communities of urban grasslands, and traits of bee species, related to local habita...

Nocturnal arthropods form the prey base for many predators and are an integral part of complex food webs. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms influencing invertebrates at urban water bodies and the potential flow-on effects to their predators. This study aims to: (i) understand the importance of standing water bodies for noctu...

Urban biodiversity conservation requires an understanding of how urbanization modulates biodiversity patterns and the associated ecosystem services. While important advances have been made in the conceptual development of urban biodiversity research over the last decades, challenges remain in understanding the interactions between different groups...

The Galapagos archipelago is an ideal location for studying species differentiation on oceanic islands due to its isolation and geological youth. Spiders, as early colonisers, are good model organisms to understand these processes. The aim of this study is to update the list of spiders found in Galapagos and investigate the current distribution pat...

Anthropogenic changes in climate, land use, and disturbance regimes, as well as introductions of non-native species can lead to the transformation of many ecosystems. The resulting novel ecosystems are usually characterized by species assemblages that have not occurred previously in a given area. Quantifying the ecological novelty of communities (i...

Many cities aim to increase urban forest cover to benefit residents through the provision of ecosystem services and to promote biodiversity. As a complement to traditional forest plantings, we address opportunities associated with “emerging urban forests” (i.e., spontaneously developing forests in cities) for urban biodiversity conservation. We qua...

Anthropogenic changes in climate, land use and disturbance regimes, as well as introductions of non-native species can lead to the transformation of many ecosystems. The resulting novel ecosystems are usually characterized by species assemblages that have not occurred previously in a given area. Quantifying the ecological novelty of communities (i....

Cities can support biodiversity conservation as they often provide valuable secondary habitats for animals, and in particular invertebrates. In this context, Berlin – as a green capital – has a great potential and thus biodiversity surveys are mandatory to increase data availability. Urban dry grasslands are known to be especially diverse, but to d...

Pollination is a key ecological process, and invasive alien plant species have been shown to significantly affect plant-pollinator interactions. Yet, the role of the environmental context in modulating such processes is understudied. As urbanisation is a major component of global change, being associated with a range of stressors (e.g. heat, pollut...

Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of dry grasslands in Berlin (and Brandenburg): Carabid beetles were sampled at 52 dry grassland sites in Berlin and Brandenburg in 2017 from May to July and from September to October. In all, 106 species were collected by using pitfall traps. Ten species of conservation concern (red list category 1-3) were fo...

Wild bees of dry grasslands in Berlin: During the summer of 2017, 108 bee species were sampled in urban grasslands within the city of Berlin. 25 of them are listed as more or less endangered in the Red Data List of Berlin and 16 wild bee species are specialized in their dietary behaviour (oligolectic). Worth mentioning are the findings of Lasioglos...

With urban areas growing worldwide, so does artificial light at night (ALAN) which negatively affects many nocturnal animals, including bats. The response of bats to ALAN ranges from some opportunistic species taking advantage of insect aggregations around street lamps, particularly those emitting ultraviolet (UV) light, to others avoiding lit area...

Green areas of cities encompass a large range of wildlife species. In recent years, research focused on understanding the environmental conditions that allow for any particular species to settle in an urban area, thereby covering different taxa from mammals to invertebrates. Usually such studies focus on one species or a group of very similar speci...

Urbanisation is a growing global phenomenon having multiple ecological consequences. However, the effects of urbanisation on biodiversity remain ambiguous, and some evidence exists that cities provide valuable secondary habitats for many species, possibly mitigating regional biodiversity loss. Therefore, the value of urban sites for biodiversity de...

We analyzed effects of pitfall trap color on spider catches using four different pitfall trap colors (white, yellow, green, brown). For each color, we installed 17 pitfall traps at two grassland sites, respectively, and sampled 77 species from 6,202 individuals. Number of species showed no significant differences but Shannon- and Simpson-diversity...

In agricultural landscapes, semi-natural habitats are scarce and remaining habitat patches are largely isolated. However, linear landscape elements might facilitate dispersal of plant species through the agricultural landscape matrix. We investigated the following research questions: 1. are open linear landscape elements (LLE) effective corridors f...

Vegetation relevés. (CSV)

Study areas. UTM (zone 32N) coordinates of centroids of study areas. (DOCX)

Species groups. Definitions of phytosociological groups and dispersal-distance classes. (DOCX)

Species list. Species list with assignments to phytosociological groups and dispersal-distance classes. (DOCX)

Metadata. Metadata of the dataset used in the article. (TXT)

Script. R script of statistical analyses. (R)

Model setup. Setup of Generalised Linear Mixed Models. (DOCX)

Model summaries. Summary tables of Generalised Linear Mixed Models. (DOCX)

Multiple disturbances in the biotic and abiotic environment derive from urbanization processes. They lead to barriers to species dispersal as well as novel niches. Our aim is to get a grip on environmental factors shaping biodiversity patterns and community assembly in environments. To this end, we used various methods to gather data from different...

El bosque de Scalesia, que alberga al más alto número de especies de plantas y animales en Santa Cruz, se ha visto reducido de manera drástica por actividades agrícolas en el pasado y más recientemente por plantas invasoras (Rentería & Buddenhagen, 2006). En Santa Cruz solo quedan 100 ha, menos de 1% de su distribución original, dándose la mayor co...

The Scalesia forest, housing the highest number of plant and animal species in the highlands of Santa Cruz, has been drastically reduced by agricultural activities in the past and more recently, by invasive plants (Rentería & Buddenhagen, 2006). On Santa Cruz, about 100 ha remain, less than 1% of its original distribution, with the largest concentr...

ContextThe relative importance of habitat area and connectivity for species richness is often unknown. Connectivity effects may be confounded with area effects or they may be of minor importance as posited by the habitat-amount hypothesis. Objectives We studied effects of habitat area and connectivity of linear landscape elements for plant species...

Urban wastelands are considered to be valuable habitats for biodiversity conservation, but empirical evidence for several poorly investigated taxa such as grasshoppers is still pending – although urgently required for reasonable habitat management and urban planning. For the first time, we analysed grasshopper diversity of urban wastelands at diffe...

Aims Resistance distance, based on circuit theory, is a promising metric for modelling effects of landscape configuration on dispersal of organisms and the resulting population and community patterns. The values of resistance distance reflect the likelihood of a random walker to reach from a source to a certain destination in the landscape. Althou...

In this paper we propose Trebacosa brunhesi Villepoux, 2007 as a junior synonym of Trebacosa europaea Szinetár & Kan-csal, 2007 based on the examination of specimens from all the localities from where those species are known. Illustration of the type species of the genus, Trebacosa marxi (Stone, 1890) and specimens from all known localities of T. e...

In face of a dramatic decline of wild bee species in many rural landscapes, potential conservation functions of urban areas gain importance. Yet effects of urbanization on pollinators, and in particular on wild bees, remain ambiguous and not comprehensively understood. This is especially true for amenity grassland and extensively managed wastelands...

Species list List of bee species caught in 30 study sites in Marzahn-Hellersdorf/Berlin during early summer (15th and 16th of June) and midsummer (30th and 31st of July) in 2012 (nomenclature followed Westrich et al., 2008). Explanations: R+ = Bee species significantly affiliated to restoration (SIMPER analysis, P < 0.05).

Raw Data for Statistics

Agricultural intensification is a cause of global biodiversity decline. Seminatural linear landscape elements (LLE) within agricultural landscapes can considerably mitigate these declines, but their effects on functional properties of biodiversity are poorly known. We analyzed trait composition and functional diversity (functional dispersion) of sp...

Background Urban green spaces can harbor a considerable species richness of plants and animals. A few studies on single species groups indicate important habitat functions of cemeteries, but this land use type is clearly understudied compared to parks. Such data are important as they (i) illustrate habitat functions of a specific, but ubiquitous ur...

Location of sampled cemetery sections (grey) and sampled plots (small squares).

As drivers of global change, biological invasions have fundamental ecological consequences. However, it remains unclear how invasive plant effects on resident animals vary across ecosystems, animal classes, and functional groups. We performed a comprehensive metaanalysis covering 198 field and laboratory studies reporting a total of 3,624 observati...

Biological invasions are a major threat to biodiversity; however, the degree of impact can vary depending on the ecosystem and taxa. Here, we test whether a top invader at a global scale, the tree Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust, false acacia), which is known to profoundly change site conditions, significantly affects urban animal diversity. As...

Urbanisation can be dangerous to biological diversity, but on the other hand cities can enhance local and regional biodiversity by providing habitat analogues for many – sometimes endangered – species that are elsewhere excluded from natural habitats. Sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) are endangered in Germany and populations are declining. This specie...

Insgesamt konnten bisher 343 Spinnenarten aus 22 Familien im Nationalpark Unteres Odertal nachgewiesen werden (Tabelle 2). 38 bzw. 31 sind in der Roten Liste Brandenburgs bzw. Deutschlands aufgeführt – insgesamt weisen 50 Arten einen Gefährdungsstatus auf. Besonders hervorzuheben sind die Springspinne Sitticus distinguendus, die in Brandenburg vom...