Potted Plant Animal Interactions

This project aims to illustrate the potential of potted plants as a food source, meeting place and habitat for animals. The focus is on wild plants cultivated in flower pots in ungreened areas (e.g. balconies, terraces, pedestrian areas, parking lots) in urban areas. In these areas, potted plants can act as green islands that provide food and shelter and serve as stepping stones to connect animal populations living in other larger green spaces.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Native wild plants provide habitat and food sources for many animals. Establishing wild plants in pots can encourage the presence of wild plants, providing food sources and shelter for animals that are tied to the wild plants in question.

The project is open to anyone who would like to provide examples of interaction between wild plants in pots and wildlife. Ideally, a single plant will be shown in combination with all animals observed on that plant. A brief description of the plant, including planting date and, if already occurred, dieback date, can help to better understand how quickly a plant develops into an interaction partner and how well it is suited as a mobile habitat and interaction partner.

Of course, other information can be added to increase the interpretability of the observations. Other information that can be added is the minimum distance of the potted plant from vegetation growing in the ground (e.g., flower beds, lawns, hedges) in the case of pots on ground level areas such as terraces or parking lots, or the height above the ground in the case of pots on balconies or roofs (some insects don't like to fly high, others do, we'll see...), as well as the minimum distance to the outskirts of the city or, in larger cities, to semi-natural areas such as large parks, since the open countryside can provide source habitats for animals.

An example of a potted plant individual with relevant information added can be seen here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105574319

Thank you for participating in this project with your observations! I am very excited to see examples that can motivate others to plant wild plants in areas without immediate nature.

If you are particularly interested in potted plants that have a particularly high potential for supporting wildlife in urban areas, you can visit the following project:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/tapp-top-animal-potted-plants

REFERENCES

Examples of references (further references will be very gladly added upon recommendation of the iNaturalist community):

Wild flowers in pots:
Witt 2017: Das Wildpflanzen Topfbuch. Ausdauernde Arten für Balkon, Terrasse und Garten. Lebendig, pflegeleicht, nachhaltig.

Planting animals:
Aufderheide 2020: Tiere pflanzen: Faszinierende Partnerschaften zwischen Pflanzen und Tieren - 18 attraktive Lebensräume im Naturgarten gestalten.

Value of new wild flower areas in urban settings:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234327 less ↑