Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability
Green spaces within residential areas provide important contributions to the sustainability of urban systems. Therefore, studying the characteristics of these areas has become a research priority in cities worldwide. This project evaluated various aspects of the plant biodiversity of residential yar...
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doaj-a7afa27dfcb04f5db208d1b8d32974052020-11-24T22:43:10ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872014-09-011932210.5751/ES-06164-1903226164Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainabilityCristina P. Vila-Ruiz0Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman1Raul Santiago-Bartolomei2Diana Garcia-Montiel3Lourdes Lastra4Cielo E. Figuerola5Jose Fumero-Caban6Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasCenter for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasGraduate School of Planning, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasCenter for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasDepartment of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasCenter for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico at Río PiedrasGreen spaces within residential areas provide important contributions to the sustainability of urban systems. Therefore, studying the characteristics of these areas has become a research priority in cities worldwide. This project evaluated various aspects of the plant biodiversity of residential yards (i.e., front yards and back yards within the Río Piedras watershed in the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico). Our work included gathering information on vegetation composition and abundance of woody species (i.e., trees, shrubs, palms, ferns) and large herbs (>2 m height), species origin (native vs. introduced), and species uses (ornamental, food, and medicinal plants). A total of 424 yards were surveyed within an area of 187,191 m². We found 383 woody species, with shrubs being the most abundant plant habitat. As expected, residential yards hosted a disproportionate amount of introduced species (69.5%). The most common shrub species were all non-native ornamentals, whereas the most common tree species included food trees as well as ornamental plants and two native species. Front yards hosted more ornamental species per unit area than backyards, while the latter had more food plants. The high amount of introduced species may present a challenge in terms of implementation of plant conservation initiatives if there is no clear definition of urban conservation goals. On the other hand, the high frequency of yards containing food plants may facilitate the development of residential initiatives that could provide future adaptive capacity to food shortages.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art22/backyardsecosystem servicesfront yardsplant diversityresidential landscapesresidential green spacestropical watershedsurban systemsurban sustainability |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Cristina P. Vila-Ruiz Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman Raul Santiago-Bartolomei Diana Garcia-Montiel Lourdes Lastra Cielo E. Figuerola Jose Fumero-Caban |
spellingShingle |
Cristina P. Vila-Ruiz Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman Raul Santiago-Bartolomei Diana Garcia-Montiel Lourdes Lastra Cielo E. Figuerola Jose Fumero-Caban Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability Ecology and Society backyards ecosystem services front yards plant diversity residential landscapes residential green spaces tropical watersheds urban systems urban sustainability |
author_facet |
Cristina P. Vila-Ruiz Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman Raul Santiago-Bartolomei Diana Garcia-Montiel Lourdes Lastra Cielo E. Figuerola Jose Fumero-Caban |
author_sort |
Cristina P. Vila-Ruiz |
title |
Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
title_short |
Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
title_full |
Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
title_fullStr |
Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
title_sort |
plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
series |
Ecology and Society |
issn |
1708-3087 |
publishDate |
2014-09-01 |
description |
Green spaces within residential areas provide important contributions to the sustainability of urban systems. Therefore, studying the characteristics of these areas has become a research priority in cities worldwide. This project evaluated various aspects of the plant biodiversity of residential yards (i.e., front yards and back yards within the Río Piedras watershed in the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico). Our work included gathering information on vegetation composition and abundance of woody species (i.e., trees, shrubs, palms, ferns) and large herbs (>2 m height), species origin (native vs. introduced), and species uses (ornamental, food, and medicinal plants). A total of 424 yards were surveyed within an area of 187,191 m². We found 383 woody species, with shrubs being the most abundant plant habitat. As expected, residential yards hosted a disproportionate amount of introduced species (69.5%). The most common shrub species were all non-native ornamentals, whereas the most common tree species included food trees as well as ornamental plants and two native species. Front yards hosted more ornamental species per unit area than backyards, while the latter had more food plants. The high amount of introduced species may present a challenge in terms of implementation of plant conservation initiatives if there is no clear definition of urban conservation goals. On the other hand, the high frequency of yards containing food plants may facilitate the development of residential initiatives that could provide future adaptive capacity to food shortages. |
topic |
backyards ecosystem services front yards plant diversity residential landscapes residential green spaces tropical watersheds urban systems urban sustainability |
url |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art22/ |
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