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Working group

Biodiversity Mapping in Frankfurt

Since 1985, the working group for biodiversity mapping has been recording the biotope types within Frankfurt’s urban area and also conducting in-depth floristic and zoological studies. In 2023, the project was relaunched as a 12-year research collaboration between the Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (SGN) and the City of Frankfurt’s Environmental Agency, entitled ‘Promoting Species and Biotope Diversity in Frankfurt am Main – Identifying Measures to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change and Land Use Pressure’.

The flora and fauna of Frankfurt and the surrounding area has been scientifically studied and documented in the collections of the Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research for over 200 years. The affiliation of the working group for biodiversity mapping with the Senckenberg Research Institute is therefore a natural fit, as it offers the ideal conditions for recording, analysing and evaluating changes in flora, fauna and biotopes.

Current Research

Completed projects

History of the working group

The commissioning of the Senckenberg Research Institute with an area-wide biodiversity mapping by the Frankfurt City Council in 1985 marked the beginning of many years of co-operation. In the meantime, an important long-term monitoring programme has emerged. From the very beginning, the intention was to deepen and complete knowledge about nature and its changes in the urban area in order to provide a solid basis for targeted and more effective urban planning and nature conservation work.
The first round of biodiversity mapping of the city area was completed in 1990. Since then, revision mapping has been carried out in a frequency of approximately 6 years in order to constantly update the data basis. From the year 2000, the biodiversity mapping was also extended to Frankfurt’s municipal forest, which had previously been excluded from the surveys. Since the working group was founded, additional in-depth floristic-faunistic surveys have been carried out in selected areas and habitats. In addition, topics such as landscape structure and biotope networks, species inventories, nature conservation and maintenance and development of biotopes have been analysed as part of special projects (e. g. Frankfurt 21, Airport Project, Frankfurter Kreuz, Cities Dare Wilderness).
The results of the working group for biodiversity mapping provide scientific information on the condition, endangerment and need for protection as well as the development potential of nature in the city. In addition, we create knowledge about the distribution of habitats, plant and animal species, which can be used to plan maintenance and protection measures. This is an important basis for the city’s urban planning, for example with regard to intervention regulations, and were a central basis for Frankfurt’s species and biotope protection concept published in 2021.

Publications

Team

M. Sc. Fabian Schrauth 
Project coordinator, botany, zoology, currently pursuing a doctorate on biodiversity in urban forests
Dipl.-Geogr. Dirk Bönsel 
Botany, vegetation science
Dirk Bönsel
M. Sc. Franzisca Haffner 
Botany, vegetation science
Annika Braasch 
Master's candidate in biodiversity mapping (distribution, development, and endangerment of orchard populations in Frankfurt am Main)
Prof. Dr.  Georg Zizka 
Botany, monitoring of forest areas

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum

Institutes

Botany and Molecular Evolution

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