Flora of Public Squares in the City of Areia, Paraíba, Brazil

Abstract

Public squares are important spaces in the cities and stand out for providing improvements in the quality of urban life. Thus, this study aimed to carry out the floristic survey of public squares in the city of Areia, Paraíba state, Brazil, and analyze the similarity between their flora. The species classification was performed by consulting experts and through comparative morphology. The floristic similarity was calculated using the Jaccard index. Twenty-nine species distributed in 26 genera and 20 families were recorded. Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter) Kuntze had the highest relative frequency (8.52%). Sixty-three percent of the species are exotic and 28% contain toxic substances. There was a significant similarity (1) only between Tenente Juvenal Espíndola and Simeão Patrício squares. The data evidence the need for better planning of floristic composition of the squares in the city of Areia, as well as for a tree planting manual.

Plant Species Composition and the Perception of the Afforestation in Urban Public Green Spaces in a Municipality in Eastern Brazilian Amazon

“…The floristic richness shown in the three sampled public areas demonstrates similarity when compared to studies developed in other Brazilian small cities. Thirty species were registered in fourteen urban public areas in Altamira, also in the Amazon biome [47], and 29 species were sampled in 9 urban public areas in the city of Areia/PB, in the Atlantic Forest biome [48]. In the same sense, we identified a low species richness and distribution, with the predominance of a single species.…”

Telling the Wood from the Trees: Ranking a Tree Species List to Aid Urban Afforestation in the Amazon

“…The abundant local plant diversity leads to the need to score the most suitable species within a given region [3]. While Brasília, the capital of Brazil, is an excellent example of urban planning that includes the marked presence of native and ornamental trees lining its streets and parks [11], the situation in a large number of cities in the Northeast [12][13][14][15] and North [16][17][18] regions of Brazil is much less encouraging. While in some cities there are examples of the introduction of Brazilian native trees, the actual dominance of exotic species tends to invalidate these positive initiatives [19].…”