Private green areas can be important retreats for animals and plants – if they are designed correctly. But how do you recognize whether your own garden actually contributes to biodiversity? Researchers have developed a simple self -test that determines the ecological value of gardens and gives tips for more biodiversity. It can be used to find out how much nature is really in the garden – and what is still missing.
Our gardens are more than just green retreats. If we design them correctly, you can also serve animals and plants as small oases. With natural elements such as ponds, wildflower meadows, shrubs or dead wood, garden owners create habitats that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and improve the microclimate in cities. Precisely because natural areas in metropolitan areas and other regions characterized by humans are scarce, gardens take on an important replacement function here.
A self -test for garden owners
But how do I know how ecologically valuable my garden is? For this purpose, researchers around Esther Felgetreff from the University of Jena have now developed the so -called garden biodiversity index and, on the basis of which, created a corresponding self -test for garden owners. “The garden biodiversity index was designed in such a way that even laypersons can carry it out independently – without specialist knowledge, only by checking out your own garden,” explains Felgentreff.
The index evaluates 15 clearly defined garden features, the so-called biotope building blocks, and weights them according to their contribution to biodiversity. These include bird drinks, nesting aids, compost heaps, dry stone walls, dead wood or ponds. “Each of these building blocks offers their own mini habitat. The more different building blocks are available in a garden, the better, because then many animal and plant species can also settle,” says the instructions on the self-test. “In addition, many types also benefit from several building blocks. Insects or amphibians, for example, have very different demands on their habitat as a larva and adult animal.”
For birds, it is important to have a nesting site, for example in an old tree cave, a dense hedge or a nesting box. In addition, the feathered garden residents need enough food nearby, for example in perennial beds, flower meadows or flowering and berry -bearing domestic bushes. “Every biotope building block brings something, but only in the combination and by supplementing as many local plant species as possible, they develop their entire effect,” said the researchers.
Germany is in midfield
From the sum of all the building blocks present in the garden, there is finally a “biodiversity score” between zero and 45 points, which shows how ecologically valuable a garden is already and at which points can still be implemented. In a nationwide survey, the test has already been applied to 2,000 gardens. It showed that most gardens are in the middle area of possible values. Not bad, but there is still room for improvement.
If you want to carry out the self -test for your own garden, you will find it here As a free pdf.
Source: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena; Specialist articles: Landscape and Urban Planning, DOI: 10.1016/J.Landurbplan.2025.105449
