A new conservation strategy for arable plant vegetation in Germany – the project

Stefan Meyer

smeyerl@gwdg.de
Georg-August-University of Gottingen. Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Rescach, 2, 37073 Gottingen, Germany (Germany)

Karsten Wesche

Georg-August-University of Gottingen. Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Rescach, 2, 37073 Gottingen, Germany (Germany)

Christoph Leuschner

Georg-August-University of Gottingen. Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Rescach, 2, 37073 Gottingen, Germany (Germany)

Thomas van Elsen

University of Kassel, Department of Organic Farming and Cropping, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany (Germany)

Jürgen Metzner

German Association for Landcare (DVL),Feuchtwanger StraBe 38, 91522 Ansbach, Germany (Germany)

Abstract

It is prudent to conserve communities which are as species-rich as possible. This is the only means of ensuring that species diversity but also gene diversity is high enough to allow for the necessary adaptations to changed environmental conditions. Arable plant communities are a special case here because losses in the last 5 decades have been particularly severe. Numerous studies from Central Europe reported dramatic declines of the segetal flora.In most of the federal states of Germany, successful measures for protecting the segetal flora, such as the establishment of field flora reserves and field margin strip programmes have often unfortunately come to a halt due to changes in funding, lack of regional support or high levels of bureaucracy. The new project "100 fields for biodiversity", which has been funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) since 2007, aims to establish a network of protected areas for the preservation of endangered segetal species in Germany. Management aimed at preserving and fostering arable wild plants is to be guaranteed in the long term on at least 100 particularly suitable arable sites...