Biodiversity

The Floating has its own climate and is characterized by the dynamics of rainwater and largely due to the establishment of spontaneous plants. The Tree-Ring is a ring-shaped wasteland. It brings a demarcation from the cultivated nature in the neighborhood and at the same time is the transition from uncultivated nature to cultivated nature. To one side is the sports facility and the adjacent cemetery, to the other is the allotment garden area, and to the south is the Tempelhofer Feld. Protected by trees and blackberry hedges, the lower-lying basin developed into a niche rich in species. First colonized by animals and today used by humans at certain times, a place of consciously experienced coexistence is developing there. Animal and human territories overlap and form points of overlap that lead to active environmental experiences and inspire us to act.

The garden colony “Am Flughafen” and the entire overgrown surroundings represent a refugium of a special kind. The diversity of birds, insects and small vertebrates is very remarkable. A detailed list of the different species follows.

Mammals
foxes, pine martens, weasels, squirrels, garden dormice, voles, field mice, ground mice, bank voles, wood mice, fire voles, shrews, house shrews, dwarf bats, brown long ears, evening bats, hedgehogs, moles.

Birds
Barn swallow (few), house martin, crested lark, meadow pipit, wagtail, wren (several pairs), hedge sparrow, robin (several pairs), nightingale (several pairs), black flycatcher, house redstart, redstart (several pairs), Juniper Thrush (winter only), Blackbird and Song Thrush, Blackcap (breeding bird in garden), Clapper Warbler, Chiffchaff (several pairs), Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit (several pairs), Long-tailed Tit (several pairs), Great Tit (several pairs), Penduline Tit (several pairs), Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Oriole (once) Raven Crow, Hooded Crow, Magpie, Jay, Starling (very many), House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling (only in winter) Greenfinch, Goldfinch (several pairs), Hawfinch (8 to 10 pairs), Bullfinch, Grey Heron, Whooper Swan (guests), Mallard (guests), Lapwing (guests), Buzzard, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Hawk, Kestrel, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Long-eared Owl (one pair), Tawny Owl (one pair)

Amphibians
Tree frog, Jumping frog, Grass frog

Molluscs
Roman snail (many), grove ribbon snail, garden ribbon snail

Annelids
Common earthworm, compost worm

Dragonflies
Horseshoe damselfly, Brown mosaic damselfly, Large damselfly, Emerald damselfly

Grasshoppers
Green grasshopper, Common bush cricket, Common oak cricket, Warty biter, Common thorn cricket, Nightingale grasshopper

Bugs
common fire bug, common meadow bug, green stink bug

Cicadas
Meadow foam cicada, Rhododendron cicada

Net-winged moths
Camel neck fly, Scorpion fly

Hymenoptera, Ants
Red wood ant, Yellow meadow ant

Wasps
Common wasp, Sand wasp, Common wasp, Hornet, Red-furred sand bee, Leafcutter bee

Bumblebees
Dark earth bumblebee, Stone bumblebee, Meadow bumblebee, Pigeon tails

Beetles
Gold bar (black), goldsmith, grove beetle, black robber beetle, common grave beetle, rhinoceros beetle, common rose beetle, garden leaf beetle, dung beetle, seed snap beetle, soldier beetle, oil beetle, raspberry beetle, 22-spot lady beetle, mulmbuck, large poplar beetle, green weevil, lily beetle, potato beetle (at the end of the list we add wild beetles, an important component of insect nutrition)

Flowering plants
shaggy willowherb, red fencegrass, ribwort, common mugwort, blackthorn, chickweed, white campion, puffball, horseradish, shepherd’s purse, field cinquefoil, panicle saxifrage, wood honeysuckle, white sweet clover, wild strawberry, meadow chervil, dog parsley, spotted hemlock, wild carrot, Fence bindweed, White deadnettle, Common jew’s cherry, Black nightshade, Common usury, Yarrow, Canadian professional weed, Many-flowered whiteroot, Sharp buttercup, Creeping buttercup, Lesser celandine, Celandine, Meadow-rue, Sharp wall-pepper, Sweet clover, Small-flowered touch-me-not, Common evening primrose, Greater mullein, Black mullein, Canada goldenrod, Giant goldenrod, Common goldenrod, Coltsfoot, Dyer’s dog chamomile, Common greisweed, Piglet weed, Meadow and autumn dandelion, Cabbage goose thistle, Compass lettuce, Fleabane, Bird’s knotweed, Sorrel, Soapwort, common thistle, common columbine, nettle-leaved bellflower, globe thistle, small grape hyacinth, hairy vetch, annual stinging nettle, hops, curly dock, cypress spurge, radiopaque chamomile, common violet, common toadflax.

Grasses
Giant fescue, annual bluegrass, pigeonpea, smooth oatgrass, blue-green rush.
(just to name a few and many others)

Ferns
eagle fern, angel’s-head fern, field-flower fern

Trees
robinia, Norway maple, horse chestnut, oak, poplar, goddess tree, bottle tree

Shrubs
laburnum, sloe, peony, snowberry, black elderberry
(and others)

This information was provided by a tenant of the garden colony “Am Flughafen” in july 2009