Plants in urban brownfields: modeling the driving factors of site conditions and of plant functional group occurrence in a dynamic environment

The aim of this thesis was to detect relevant strategies for species survival in urban brownfields and to find general rules for the development of this dynamic environment. Empirical studies were done on urban brownfields of Bremen and Berlin, Germany. Presence/absence data of vascular plants, traits of selected species and environmental conditions were recorded. By clustering the species according to their traits into plant functional groups (PFGs) and subsequent modeling, in the first part of the thesis, I identified relevant strategies for species survival. The results revealed that dispersal in space and in time as well as vegetative persistence on sites are most crucial factors for plant survival in urban brownfields. In the second part, the thesis evaluated the spatial transferability of PFG models across urban brownfields of three German cities. Model transferability was highly contingent on the environmental comparability of the cities. The third part carried out an evaluation of the temporal development of vegetation structure and soil of urban brownfields. The results showed that few soil parameters are clearly linked to site age, however, dividing the sites by their soil history, significant trends became visible. Vegetation height and density increased significantly over time, being mostly contingent on site age, soil phosphorus content, soil water permeability and plant available water. The thesis highlights that the environmental conditions on site but to an even greater extent the spatial conditions of the present site mosaic are crucial factors for the sustainment of the biodiversity of urban brownfields, which has to be considered in case of conservation and management.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Oldenburg

Year

2006

Author dc:creator

• Schadek, Ute

• [Keine Schlagwörter von Autor/in vergeben.]

Repository record source_url

http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/97

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oops.uni-oldenburg.de:97