The Use of Drought-Tolerant Vegetation on Green Roofs: A Method for the Digital Photographic Monitoring of Its Development

Abstract

The increased number of buildings in urban areas limits the creation of vegetated areas, leading to the search for alternatives to create spaces to promote contact with nature. In this context, green roofs have been increasingly studied. These structures have specific microclimatic conditions requiring an accurate study of the most appropriate vegetation to use. This study aims to analyze the long-term viability of vegetation installed on an experimental green roof open-air lab. This analysis was performed using images obtained from photographic records and later inserted into the ImageJ program, in order to identify species and evaluate the area covered by vegetation. Only a few of the species that were planted in the test beds over the years have persisted to the present, while other species have spontaneously appeared. Also, surveys were used to learn about people’s preferences for the vegetation on these test beds. These showed that people favor recognizable plants with plenty of vibrantly colored blossoms. It is feasible to choose the best plants for green roofs in the studied conditions as a result of this analysi sconsidering the ground cover percentage by vegetation, its persistence, and the preferences of the respondents.