Urban land use types contribute to grassland conservation: The example of Berlin

Urbanisation is an important driver of biodiversity loss, also contributing to habitat loss and fragmentation of grasslands at the urban-rural interface. While urban green spaces are known to include many grassland habitats, it is uncertain to what extent urban land use types harbour grasslands of special conservation interest and whether patch characteristics and connectivity of these differ from grasslands on agricultural land. By relating the city-wide biotope mapping to the land use mapping of Berlin, Germany, we assessed (1) to which specific urban land use types the major grassland biotope types belong, (2) differences in patch characteristics and connectivity, and (3) the conservation value of grassland patches at a typological level by means of their legal protection status. Grasslands cover 5% of Berlin's surface, and 43% of that area is assigned to legally protected grassland types. The majority of legally protected grassland (71%) lies on urban land opposed to 29% on agricultural land. Airports and historic parks, which only cover 2% of land in Berlin, contain one-third of all protected dry grasslands. Wet grassland is more confined to agricultural land. In airports and agricultural areas, grassland patches are larger but of a more complex shape than those in historic parks. In airports, grassland patches show greater connectivity as they are situated in grassland-dominated surroundings. Grassland in historic parks appears to be more vulnerable due to smaller patch sizes and higher fragmentation. The example of Berlin demonstrates that the urban green infrastructure can clearly contribute to grassland conservation and may thus partially compensate for the decline of traditional grasslands in cultural landscapes. It will be important to involve residents and landowners in urban grassland conservation and management because most grassland of special conservation interest (57%) was found outside of conservation areas.