Research on “Blühender Campus”

It all started in May 2019, when the university provided ten areas for the campus wide project which were only mowed once or twice a year from then on, leading to a ten time  increase in the number of insects. Two master students conduct an accompanying ecological research – one focusing on plants, the other on insects - that will feed into their master theses. This year the area nearby the vegetarian canteen was extended and now includes two meadows under protection (mowed 1-2 times per year) and a big area that has been given minor protection against cutting. Since the beginning of 2020, the project has also been accompanied by a master's thesis in the social sciences; the research topic here is human-nature interaction from an ethnographic perspective. You can share your own ideas and input on research projects here: blühender.campus@biologie.fu-berlin.de.

Join our butterfly monitoring project

We established a butterfly monitoring project on the Dahlem campus meadows in spring 2020, coordinated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung in Halle (UFZ). On a determined distance separated in 50-m-lines all butterflies, especially those active during the day, are counted and their stage is recorded (egg, caterpillar, pupa, adult specimens). This is called the transect-method.

The data are transmitted to the UFZ in order to analyze the long-term population trend (≥ 10 years). Since butterflies react sensitively to environmental impacts and changes (e.g. climate change and habitat loss), they are very well suited as ecosystem indicators.
The butterfly monitoring takes place between April and October every 1-2 weeks. Every second Friday in a month we offer a public monitoring events. The  next date is the 11^th of July 2020. Make sure to register, since the number of participants is limited. Upon request, we can also offer separate events for up to five people.

Join the monitoring of our areas in Dahlem

Have you ever recalled a situation when you saw something special in nature and wanted to know more about it? iNaturalist is a platform where you can share a photo of a phenomenon, e.g. an animal or plant, and receive help and further information on what it is. For our areas in Dahlem we have started our own project.

Whenever you are in one of the defined spaces nearby the vegetarian canteen and see something special you can make a photo and share it online or in the app and it will automatically be captured in our project.

Want to share your own ideas on biodiversity on campus or participate otherwise?

We come together every first Friday of the month, next time on the 3^rd of July at 4 pm. You can register here.

Further information

We are experiencing an alarming loss in biodiversity in recent decades. ,Especially the rise in insect loss gained public attention after the Krefeld-study has been published in 2017. The study documents a decline of at least 75% of insect biomass in only 27 years; other studies show a similar loss across all taxonomical groups. The mass extinction does not only affect rare species and exotic animals, but also many formerly widespread species, a phenomenon called defaunization. Furthermore, the study shows that the protected areas cannot stop the loss; on the contrary, the areas researched were largely protected areas. The conclusion is that single protective measures cannot stop the loss of biodiversity, so major systemic changes are needed.
This project is our answer to this immensely important and open question: Are we able to reconcile our existence based on nature with our way of life?

The crisis of biodiversity has immense consequences for the function and stability of our ecosystems and is often referred to as „twin“ of the climate crisis, since the two cannot be looked at separately. Climate change will accelerate the extinction of species, while at the same time intact ecosystems are more resistant to climatic changes.
The report of the IPBES (International Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) published in 2019 sums it up:

„The diversity of nature maintains humanity’s ability to choose alternatives in the face of an uncertain future.”

And this is particularly true for the habitat that is most densely populated by humans: urban ecosystems.

For sustainable urban development in the sense of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the preservation and promotion of biodiversity is an integral part. Since many species suffer under the loss of their habitats, urban habitats can and must fulfil an important compensatory function.  Also, habitats in open landscapes are pushed back by human activities. Soil sealing, monocultures and excessive green space care of many areas are among the main drivers of biotope loss. This is precisely where our initiative “Blühender Campus” come in!

Contact

E-Mail: bluehender-campus@nachhaltigkeit.fu-berlin.de