Animals on campus

Across the campus at 300 km/h

Students and employees aren't the only ones moving around the HoPla campus - it's also a habitat for a surprising number of wild animals

Wild animals on campus? No, there are no wolves or bears living at Holländischer Platz, apart from raccoons. But it's not just pigeons and ducks that feel at home here, and the people at the Holländischer Platz campus are not alone: early in the morning, for example, the peregrine falcon sits on the large chimney. A flock of chirping goldfinches passes by and settles in the silver willows in front of the refectory.

"Because of the Ahna and the green spaces, the campus is very lively," says Dr.-Ing. Thomas E. Hauck of the Open Space Planning department. He is scientifically concerned with how cities can provide habitats for animals. The HoPla campus has a lot to offer in this respect, because animals find plenty of food here. The trees and green spaces are teeming with insects that feed smaller birds, which are again preyed upon by birds of prey.

Who is screaming so loudly here?

One of these birds of prey is the peregrine falcon. Its cry can be easily heard as it keeps a lookout on the historic chimney. It comes to the campus to hunt. In doing so, the animal reaches a top speed of over 300 km/h in flight. The smaller birds are not quiet either. The colorful goldfinches flutter in a flock from tree to tree, warbling their songs there.

"On the Ahna, in addition to mallards, I have also seen a kingfisher. It actually breeds further south on the Fulda. Its shrill whistle is one of its trademarks," says Jan Piecha. He studied environmental planning and works in the field of landscape development / environmental and planning law. At the same time, he is a nature photographer and therefore walks around the campus with his eyes open and his camera ready to hand.

House martins and swifts also sound over the roofs of the university. "The swift is a typical urban species. It prefers to use cracks on building roofs for breeding," Piecha explains. The animals find plenty of insects to eat on the fallow land near the student house. In addition, house redstarts live on the North Campus and house sparrows, commonly known as sparrows, live throughout the campus. "I've also observed mountain wagtails and wagtails at the Ahna," Piecha says.

The little ones are important, too

Without insects, many birds wouldn't even be able to live on campus. Pretty butterflies such as the peacock butterfly, cabbage white butterflies and the thistle butterfly hover along the Mensa trough. There are also bluebirds, the lesser fox or the admiral fluttering around the North Campus. Even a swallowtail has been spotted there. "Certainly because of the wild carrot in the areas. That is the preferred food plant of the caterpillars," explains Piecha. Iridescent banded damselflies pass over the Ahna and settle on the banks. They like sunlit stretches of water.

Where Georg-Forster-Strasse crosses the Ahna, there are sometimes fish such as rudd or brown trout. "The trout is a common fish in southern Germany, but it's quite special here in the north," Piecha says.

Vegetation is the basis for the hustle and bustle

"Birds like house sparrows or swifts need food above all," says Hauck. Together with biologist Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser from the Technical University of Munich, he has developed the planning method "Animal-Aided Design". The basic idea is that animals can also find a habitat in cities if the architecture helps a little. Birds, for example, feel very much at home in the greenery on the facades of the brick walls of the buildings at HoPla. Blackbirds and woodpigeons breed at Café Desasta. When the leaves have fallen in the fall, bird nests can be seen there along the brick facades.

"There are many insects in meadows, bushes and trees. For house sparrows, for example, this is very important: they don't fly more than 50 meters for food when they are raising young," Hauck explains. House sparrows need sheltering woods, such as dense hedges or shrubbery, in which they can hide from predators. "In general, many animals need flower-rich stands and a well-mixed stand of trees such as oak or willow, which we have on the old part of campus." The trees that are on campus or will be planted in the future need to be climate change-ready, he said. "You always have to find a compromise there - to choose a tree species that fulfills that and at the same time is interesting for animals," Hauck says.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Körner, among others, provides flowering oases on campus in consultation with the construction department. Does he also think about the animals when choosing plants? "First: easy to care for. Second: beautiful to look at. Third, attract animals," he lists his criteria. He heads the Landscape Construction, Management and Vegetation Development department and, among other things, takes care of planting the areas in front of the library or the campus entrance at Holländischer Platz.

Prairie gardens were still very much in vogue about 15 years ago when he first started working with plant use, which at the time was very much aesthetically oriented. "I then noticed that plants were mixing more and more with native species," he says. "For example, we now have daisy, oregano or knapweed on campus - plants that are now rare in the wild." Long before insect mortality was discussed, he says, he wondered: how can the city provide food sources?

Campuses are like mountains

"Actually, cities and campuses are like natural mountains: there are gravels, boulders and walls," Körner says. This is also home to many thermophilic species that are particularly suited to living in the warm city. "In this respect, I try to combine the thermophilic fringe with wild roses or cinnamon roses, for example," Körner explains. There's a lot of effort behind his work: he's always trying out new species, collecting seeds from plants in Kassel's neighboring landscape, among other things, and letting them grow on campus.

One challenge, he says, was the long area along the library that had to be redesigned. "There used to be a ground cover planting of roses between the library and the engineering building. It was so weedy that the gardeners had trouble weeding it, partly because of the thorns. The perennials we have there now are easier to care for, an eye-catcher and at the same time a source of food for animals," says Körner. Perennials are also different from the so-called flower meadows that have been increasingly planted in cities in recent years. Perennials are perennial, those flowers only annual. Therefore, they disappear again if they are not repeatedly replanted. "And actually, real meadows also consist only of perennials, that is, grasses and herbs," Körner says. In beds, perennials stay in place longer and provide food for animals over a long period of time.

The animals also use the areas between the beds: Puddles form now and then on the cobblestones at the campus, where birds like to bathe or have easy access to water. Plants grow between the cracks in the pavement, providing seeds for birds and also serving as a habitat and food source for insects.

The campus thus provides an important habitat for urban wildlife. "In relation to landscapes, cities and our campus have become retreats. I never see the goldfinch, for example, in dense urban neighborhoods, but I see it more often on campus," Körner says.

Text: Christine Graß