Herbert Sukopp, "The City as a Subject for Ecological Research" originally published in German in 1973 translated into English in Urban Ecology: an international perspective on the interactions between humans and nature, Springer, 2008
“The City as a Subject for Ecological Research” was written in 1973 by Berlin-based ecologist Herbert Sukopp. Sukopp is the father of urban ecology, for it was precisely the walled urban territory of west Berlin which gave a concentrated field of the interaction between city humans and synanthropic* animals and plants. (*Synanthropic flora or fauna are wild plants or animals that species that benefit from the company of humans.)
Sukopp dispels the often repeated statement that cities are hostile to life. He describes how the anthropogenic environment of the city is not a homogenous ecology, but a mosaic habitat composed of smaller biotopes. At the time of writing, Berlin’s composition of synanthropic plants reflected the adjacent Brandenberg environment — in spite of the wall — as well the growth of ruderal flora, plants that thrive in bombed sites, ruins and abandoned land. From an ecological-historical perspective, the defining influence on Berlin’s urban ecology is the bombing of WW II. Large areas destroyed during WW II has paved fertile ground and a marked increase in ruderal plants.
Yet, the biogeographical characteristics of a city are in constant change. The degrees of urbanisation, (post)industrialisation, development of transport networks all offer suitable habitats that have developed characteristic urban species combinations. For example, the distribution of a certain species of Evening primrose (Oenothera coronifera) which is linked to the railway lines or “canal plants” such as the Willow-leaved dock (Rumex triangulivalis) and Angelica (Angelica archangelica).
It is commonly supposed that the density of the human population is the determining characteristic of a city. However, drawing a direct analogy between city’s ecology and the city’s residential population gives a distorted picture since in each city there has been a tendency for the depopulation of the city centre. The number of people who actually use the city centre (such as workers or people traversing the area) is more difficult to determine. Sukopp suggests that the city in general is at the end stage of a development which has seen the city develop from the village, to a small, and then a middle-sized town. Today cities are decreasing in intensely utilised surface area and increasing in recreational use (the parkification of Tempelhof airport is a good example) and stealthy increase in garden suburbs. Perhaps this means that in the years to come, we will likely see a marked decline in the once characteristic ruderal biotopes of Berlin.