Urban areas, in particular, present unique challenges for the conservation of ecosystems. Allotment gardens
(AGs) are an important greenspace feature of urban landscapes in Europe which have the potential
to offer multiple social and bio-physical ecosystem services in addition to food production. This study
is an attempt to assess and compare the ecosystem services provided by AGs in Manchester, UK, and
Poznan, ´ Poland as well as a comparison to city parks. The surveys included a detailed land cover characterisation
and an assessment of cultivated and spontaneous plant species. There are differences in the
land use characteristics in the two cities with a preference for vegetable growing and water recycling in
Manchester, and a greater number of trees and a higher focus on recreation in Poznan. ´ The consequences
of these basic differences are discussed in terms of the ecosystem services that are provided by the two
different AG types, and parks. In terms of ecology, there is higher species richness on AGs with a greater
proportion of neophytes, which may potentially spread into cities. The species recorded in parks and AGs
contained a lot of native characteristics of urban, ruderal plant communities.
© 2015 Elsevier GmbH. Al