We based the biodiversity assessment on data we have collected in July 2020 during an on-site habitat mapping in the four study areas. For the biodiversity assessment, we used an approach developed by Tzoulas and James (2010) for urban systems, based on species richness and structural diversity. First, we detected different habitats, based on aerial photos of the courtyards. We measured land cover of different vegetation structures and collected additional data on the diversity of vascular plants (i.e. species) within these habitats. While Tzoulas and James (2010) advise to use their approach for sites about 1 ha or larger and conduct the biodiversity assessment for at least 10% of the site area, we used their approach for the entire area of the four courtyards (approx. 0.3 ha per study site, total of 1.2 ha).
holly shanahan hot photos
Urban green spaces are of utmost importance for carbon storage as urban soils and trees have the capacity to act as a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Urban trees play an important role in reducing carbon dioxide by fixing carbon during photosynthesis and subsequently storing it as biomass (Nowak et al. 2013, Richter et al. 2020). Though urban green spaces are a rather small contributor to the global carbon stock, municipalities are aware and interested in carbon sinks. In Potsdam, for instance, the municipal climate mitigation plan (LHP 2017) explicitly includes carbon sinks in green spaces to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 2ff7e9595c
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