GolfBiodivers
Enhancement, monitoring, and communication of biodiversity on golf courses
The project “GolfBiodivers” is funded under the Federal Programme on Biological Diversity by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources provided by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Within this joint research project, we are working together with partners from the Universities of Kiel, Munich, and Münster, as well as the German Golf Association (DGV), to assess and enhance the landscape-ecological value and biodiversity of golf courses.
Objectives and methodology
The main objectives of the project are to promote biodiversity in the long term by means of various landscaping measures on golf courses and to communicate the results widely. We are implementing a five-stage approach for the concrete improvement of biodiversity on golf courses in Germany:
- Landscape analysis of the biodiversity of 32 sites
- Establishment of a ‘biodiversity kit’ consisting of enhanced lowland hay meadows, flower strips, margins and shrubs on these sites
- Investigation of the effects of the ‘biodiversity kit’ on grasshoppers, butterflies, wild bees, birds and bats by scientists and with the participation of golf club members
- Implementation of the results in an enhancement plan for another 32 golf courses
- Training of golf course staff, networking with other sports facilities, municipalities and associations, environmental education for school classes and public relations work on biodiversity on golf courses
Sub-project: Biodiversity analysis of enhanced golf courses
A key focus of our subproject is to analyse the biodiversity enhancement measures on golf courses through a before-and-after as well as a with-and-without comparison. This means that we assess how the implemented measures actually affect biodiversity by comparing golf courses before and after the measures are carried out, and by additionally examining similar golf courses where such measures have not been implemented.
We conduct this work using both a citizen science approach, which directly involves golf course users, and scientific ecological surveys carried out by ecologists. The citizen science approach encourages and guides visitors of the golf courses to identify insect species occurring on the sites, using images and freely accessible databases or apps, thereby helping to document the existing biodiversity.
The scientific approach is based on the standardised assessment of wild bees, wasps, grasshoppers, butterflies, burnet moths, birds, bats, and vegetation using methods such as the installation of nesting aids, transect walks, and acoustic recordings with AudioMoth devices. For all taxa, species richness, abundance, and diversity indices are subsequently calculated. Finally, all biodiversity data are evaluated with regard to the effectiveness of the enhancement measures and their transferability to other golf courses.
In this way, we hope to highlight the potential of golf courses as a building block of the national biodiversity network and to enhance and integrate them effectively.
Contact person
Project data
| Network coordinator | Prof. Dr. Johannes Kollmann (TU Munich) |
| Project members at the University of Freiburg | Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein Anna Klopstock |
| Duration | 04/2023 – 03/2029 |
| Funding | Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with resources provided by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety |
| Project partners | Technical University of Munich University of Kiel University of Münster Deutscher Golf Verband e.V. |
| Website | https://www.bfn.de/projektsteckbriefe/golfbiodivers |
This website reflects the views and opinions of the funding recipient of the Federal Biological Diversity Programme and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funding provider.