History, landscape, and botanical report of a centenary square in Brazil

Abstract

Historical research of public spaces provides a better understanding of the social formation and preserve cultural and landscaping heritage. José Bonifácio Square, located in Picacicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil, is an important public space. We carried out a historical survey in the archives of municipal public institutions and a landscape record was done by identifying tree species implanted in the square. We verified a strong church influence in the development of the square landscape project. The first landscaping work occurred in 1885, and it became known as City Public Garden. It presented naturalistic features, using exotic and native species, mainly trees, for landscaping composition. Several modifications and reforms were made from 1885 to 2005. José Bonifácio Square was considered highly diverse (H’ = 3.18) with 151 individuals, distributed in 36 species belonging to 14 botanical families. The native species from Atlantic Forest represented 82.6% of Bignoniaceae, Arecaceae, and Fabaceae species. The high diversity of native species found in José Bonifácio Square allowed us to infer a lower ecological fragility and a higher environmental balance than other Brazilian squares. The analysis of historical information from the years 1885 to 2019 and the analysis of the square’s floristic composition in contemporary times demonstrated José Bonifácio Square’s relevance in forming and conserving Piracicaba’s urban identity.

Biodiverse neighborhoods: an ex-situ conservation tool

“…In our study it was possible to evidence that there was an equilibrium regarding the presence of individuals from the Fabaceae family, with 5 of them being classified as native and 5 as exotic species. Trees from the Fabaceae family are commonly utilized in urban forests in Brazilian cities (Fernandes et al, 2018;Silva et al, 2019;Toledo et al, 2021). Among the reasons for the wide use of species from the Fabaceae family are: the canopy architecture (shade from the tree), the presence of colorful inflorescences, aesthetic beauty, and easy seed dispersal, which increase the spontaneous emergence of new individuals, as well as the use of those trees by local inhabitants of a given area, which also increases the seedling of new individuals (Cabreira and Canto-Dorow, 2016).…”

The management of plants and their impact on monuments in historic gardens: Current threats and solutions

“…Other solutions are related to species choice and garden design: "choosing mixed stands" (i.e. composed by different species) instead of monoculture and supporting the use of "rare trees and shrubs" were good practices to reduce the incidence of pests and pathogens (Graves, 2017;Marim Toledo et al, 2021). Ciaffi et al (2018) suggested "in vitro propagation" for producing pest and pathogens free plants, such as planes resistant to C. platani and to the species of Ambrosia beetles, which often occur in nursery stocks.…”

“…installation of disinfection mats, information panels, pathogens and pests monitoring); replacing grass and bark paths with gravel surfaces which prevent the collection of water (particularly for fungus diseases); avoiding monospecific cultures over large areas; updating list of plant species; planning cloning (when possible) of veteran trees; pruning only when effectiveness is verified. Brasier, 2008;Wright and Slawson, 2010;Martin, 2015;Tubby and Pérez-Sierra, 2015;Graves, 2017;Marciulyniene et al, 2017;Ciaffi et al, 2018;Morar et al, 2020;Marim Toledo et al, 2021;Knott, 2021 Invasive plant species…”

Analysis of the adequacy of landscape composition to the semi-arid of squares in Montes Claros

“…The flowers with shades of red, pink, lilac and yellow make a beautiful contrast with the different shades of green, adding balance to the landscape composition. Diversity promotes a variety of colors throughout the year due to different species flowering times (Toledo et al, 2021). The different shapes of the leaves and height of the trees create a sensation of movement in the environment (Paiva et al, 2008), calling for contemplation.…”