Lebensraumvielfalt

Lebensraumvielfalt describes the variety and complexity of habitats and microhabitats within a landscape. In ecological contexts, it refers to the diversity of living spaces—such as forests, wetlands, meadows, and urban greenspaces—and to the structural features that support different organisms. Although the term includes the word Lebensraum, in scientific usage it denotes habitat diversity rather than political concepts.

Habitat diversity is composed of habitat types (richness of different environments), structural complexity (vegetation layers, fallen logs, water bodies), resource variety (food and water supply), and spatial arrangement (patch size, connectivity). Researchers often quantify it with habitat-type richness and indices that capture both variety and evenness, or with landscape metrics such as edge density and fragmentation.

High habitat diversity supports more species, provides redundancy for ecosystem functions, and enhances resilience to disturbances. It underpins services such as pollination, pest control, carbon storage, and water purification. Because processes operate at multiple scales, both local habitat diversity and landscape-scale heterogeneity are relevant for conservation and land-use planning.

Drivers include natural heterogeneity in climate, soils, and topography, as well as disturbances. Human activities—urbanization, agriculture, and monocultures—often reduce Lebensraumvielfalt. Conservation approaches emphasize maintaining or restoring habitat mosaics, connecting patches, protecting keystone habitats, and integrating habitat diversity goals into planning and restoration projects.