The green infrastructure of a highly-urbanized neotropical city : the role of the urban vegetation in preserving native biodiversity

Pena, JC; Magalhaes, DM; Mourao, ACM; Young, RJ; Rodrigues, M

Abstract

The composition of the urban vegetation that comprises the green infrastructure of a highly urbanized Neotropical city was mapped and described in order to assess how it can be used to preserve and maintain urban biodiversity. Supervised classification was used, followed by Map Algebra methodology, to identify the elements that comprise the green infrastructure of the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Species composition of the street trees community was also assessed. Almost half of the study area is occupied by 12 types of woody and herbaceous vegetation, composed mostly by urban parks and gardens. Forty-one percent of the almost 90,000 street trees is composed by 10 species from which only four are native. These results show that the green infrastructure of this urban landscape is comprised by a large amount of different types of green elements, and has a great potential for biodiversity conservation. However, management strategies are needed such as better planning of the urban afforestation process, increasing street tree species richness. This study is the first step towards a better understanding of how such urban landscape influences local biodiversity.

Citation

Pena, J., Magalhaes, D., Mourao, A., Young, R., & Rodrigues, M. (2016). The green infrastructure of a highly-urbanized neotropical city : the role of the urban vegetation in preserving native biodiversity. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Arborização Urbana, 11(4), 66-78

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 3, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 3, 2017
• Journal: Capa
• Electronic ISSN: 1980-7694
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 66-78
• Publisher URL: https://revistas.ufpr.br/revsbau/article/view/63481