LandscapeandUrbanPlanning 107 2012 111?117ContentslistsavailableatSciVerseScienceDirectLandscape and Urban Planningjournal homepage: //0>./locate/landurbplanTherelationshipbetweenlandscapedesignstyleandtheconservationvalueofparks:AcasestudyofahistoricalparkinWeimar,GermanyMartinKümmerling?,NorbertMüllerDepartmentLandscapeManagement&RestorationEcologyandHeadOf?ceURBIO,UniversityofAppliedSciencesErfurt,Germanyh i g h l i g h t s Westudiedahistorical parkinWeimar, Germany whichispartofUNESCOworldheritage. Welinkedthehistorical designprinciples andtechniques usedtotoday’splantbiodiversity. Resultswerecompared withsimilarGerman andEuropean landscape parks. Suggestions forfuturesustainable parkdesign,restoration andmanagement weremade.a r t i c l e i n f oa b s t r a c tArticlehistory:Urbanparkscanbeinvasionsourcesthrough planting ofintroduced taxa.Ontheotherhand,parksmayactashotspotsofbiodiversityinurbanareasandcansupportthepreservationofendangeredandraretaxa.Evenifhistoricurbanparksareevaluated?rstofallasheritagesites,theyarealsocreditedfortheirecosystem services andpositive aesthetical andsocialvalues.Received17April2012Accepted9May2012Available online 3 June 2012Althoughtherearenumerous studiesinEuropeonthedesign,philosophies andhistoricalbackgroundof parks as well as their biological diversity, little research has posed the question of how landscapedesignprincipleshavein?uenced thebiologicalconservation valueofparks.Becausethelandscapeparkstylewasoneofthemostin?uentialhistoricallandscapedesignfashionsinEuropewefocusedourstudyonthe‘ParkanderIlm’inWeimar,Germanywhichwascreatedinthelate18thcenturyandissince1998partoftheUNESCO Worldheritage.Keywords:BiodiversityHistoricalgardensHorticultureUrbanparksVegetationOurresearch questions were:1. Which design principles, plant material andtechnical implementation were usedduring thecreationandmanagement ofthepark?2. What is the current value of the park for biological conservation especially for the conservation ofendangered plantspeciesandhabitats?3. Whatistherelationship between designprinciples andthepresent-day valueofthepark?We compared our results with similar landscape parks and made suggestions for future sustainableparkdesign,restoration andmanagement 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1. Introduction&Butensch?n,2010.Ontheotherhand,parksmayactashotspotsofbiodiversityinurbanareasCornelis&Hermy,2004andcansup-Horticulture is a major source of plant species invasionsDehnen-Schmutz, Touza, Perrings, & Williamson, 2007; Mack &Erneberg,2002;Reichard&White,2001.Urbanparkscanbeinva-sionsourcesthroughplantingofintroducedtaxaS?umel,Kowarik,portthepreservationofendangeredandraretaxaKowarik,1998;Kunick,1978;Li,Ouyang,Meng,&Wang,2006;Reidl,1989.Evenifhistoricurbanparksarevaluedforemostasheritagesites,theyarealsocreditedfortheirecosystemservicesandpositiveaesthet-//.und&Hunhammar,1999;Chiesura,2004.AlthoughtherearenumerousstudiesinEuropeonthedesign,philosophies and historical background of parks e.gGothein,1928; Turner, 2005 as well as their biological diversity e.g.Cornelis & Hermy, 2004; Ignatieva & Konechnaya, 2004; Nath,Corresponding author at: Department Landscape Management & RestorationEcology and Head Of?ce URBIO, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, P.O. Box450155,99051Erfurt,Germany.Tel.:+4903616700273;fax:+4903616700259.E-mailaddress:martin.kuemmerling@fh-erfurt.deM.Kümmerling.0169-2046/$?seefrontmatter? 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.////.112M.Kümmerling,N.Müller/LandscapeandUrbanPlanning107 2012 111?1171990 little research has posed the question of how landscapedesignprincipleshavein?uencedthebiologicalconservationvalueofparks.Becausethelandscapeparkstylewasoneofthemostin?u-ential historical landscape design fashions in Europe by the endofthe18thandthe?rstpartofthe19thcenturywefocusedourstudyonaparkfromthatperiod.The‘ParkanderIlm’inWeimar,Germanywascreatedinthelate18thcenturyandhasbeensince1998partoftheUNESCOWorldheritagesite‘ClassicWeimar’.Weselecteditforstudybecause:1. itisa‘typical’parkofthatperiod2. therewerenochangestodesignstyleforseveralcenturies3. therewasrichhistoricalmaterialonparkdesignandplantusesuspected.InitialsearchesintheThuringianPublicRecordOf?cesituatedclosetothepark,since1567con?rmedthissuspicion.Ourresearchquestionswere:1. Which design principles, plant material and technical imple-mentation were used during the creation and management ofthepark?2. Whatisthecurrentvalueoftheparkforbiologicalconservationespeciallyfortheconservationofendangeredplantspeciesandhabitats?3. What is the relationship between design principles and thepresent-dayvalueofthepark?WecomparedourresultswithsimilarGermanlandscapeparksandmakesuggestionsforfuturesustainableparkdesign,restora-tionandmanagement.2. StudysiteThe‘ParkanderI。