Applied regional conservation

Knowledge and public perception are major fundamentals for conserving biodiversity. Since adequate information on species and species diversity is lacking, it is important to enable interested persons to deepen their knowledge on species, and to summarize and present information on species distribution and threat to the public and political authorities. Data compendium and analysis are the main fundament for this work for which a tight cooperation with local experts is crucial (e.g. regional botanical societies). Populations studies are conducted for determining the threat status of selected species.

Species identification: work on floras of two regions is in progress (Eastern Mediterranean-Rhodos, Central Europe-Berlin). Species distribution: the occurrence of species is documented in distribution maps for the regions of Berlin and Brandenburg, in the framework of the German distribution mapping scheme. Red Data books: for a summary of the knowledge on the threat of species, the lists for vascular plants (Berlin, Brandenburg) and grasshoppers (Orthoptera) (Berlin) were prepared and are momentarily updated.

Projects

• Armeria maritima subsp. elongata: a possible model species for a Habitat Network
• Contribution to a Flora of the higher plants of the island of Rhodes, Greece
• Preparation of the flora of higher plants of Berlin, including a grid mapping
• List of the endemic taxa of higher plants of Germany
• Red Data Book and checklist of higher plants of the federal state of Brandenburg