The flora of selected urban land-use types in Berlin and Potsdam with regard to nature conservation in cities

Part of this investigation is the flora of three different urban land-use t ypes which represent typical biotope characteristics of Berlin and Potsdam. The majority of these urban land-use types is located in the former GDR te rritory of East Berlin and Potsdam, which were almost unexplored and are th erefore of special botanic interest. The focus lies on the inventory of wil d-growing vascular plants, their diversity, richness, and value for nature conservation. The first investigated land-use type are the landscape parks of Potsdam wit h their plant communities of meadows and lawns which differ from many other grasslands of today in having unique plant species due to their historic g arden design and the continuous way of extensive garden management. Second, the residential areas of the 20/30s in Berlin and their diversity of wild- growing vascular plants and planted trees which reflect the original garden management and the gardening traditions of this decade are presented. The third urban land-use type is the area of the Berlin wall with urban wastela nd communities. It will be shown that also in the inner city with a high po pulation density a special variety of species makes urban wastelands worthy for nature conservation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.