Arborização urbana nas cidades brasileiras e um estudo de caso em Teixeira de Freitas, Bahia

Abstract

Amid the traditional gray infrastructure present in urban environments, afforestation proves to be an important biotic component, capable of minimizing the negative externalities resulting from urbanization. However, in many Brazilian municipalities, afforestation is not included in urban planning, favoring the involvement of incompatibility situations. This reality was also verified in Teixeira de Freitas, a municipality located in the extreme south of Bahia. Given this perspective, the objective of this work was to know the characteristics of Brazilian urban forestry, as well as to characterize the tree planting in Teixeira de Freitas, seeking to subsidize a future Sustainable Plan for Urban Forestry. For that, a systematic literature review was carried out, based on the PRISMA 2020 methodology, and, from the selected records, a list of species was prepared, determining the origin, life form, frequency of species, and abundance of individuals. The distribution of studies by region, state, and the main problems found in the afforestation of Brazilian cities was determined. On a local scale, a qualitative and quantitative inventory of the afforestation of four stretches of the city of Teixeira de Freitas was carried out. In the literature review, 2,486 records were found, of which 197 were selected. The Southeast and South regions stand out with the highest number of publications (29%, N=58; 28%; N=56). From the selected articles, a list of 1,079 taxa was obtained, with 109 families and 938 species determined. Fabaceae is the most representative family (19%; N= 208), and Ficus benjamina L. and Mangifera indica L. are the species with the highest citation frequency (70%). As for the origin, 46% of the species are exotic and 54% are native, however, in the analyzed studies, 58% of exotic and 42% of native species were used, indicating a prioritization of exotics in the implantation of afforestation, despite the high richness of native species observed in urban afforestation in Brazil. While in the survey of the urban afforestation of Teixeira de Freitas, 1,217 individuals were registered, belonging to 114 species and 41 families. Highlighting Chrysobalanaceae as the family with the highest density (30%), represented by the species Moquilea tomentosa Benth. Exotic species were predominant (76%). The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index revealed high diversity (H'=3.207), close to the maximum limit usually found in preserved natural environments. Regarding the dendrometric aspects, the following averages were obtained: 7.34 m of total height; 1.67 m in height at the first fork; 0.38 m in diameter at chest height; 57.41 m² of canopy projection area, and 19% percentage of tree cover. As for the physical-sanitary aspects, there was a predominance of individuals with healthy crowns (63%), intact trunk (58%), without pruning (74%), vigorous (47%), underground root (58%), without damage to the sidewalks (66 %), and with adequate free space (90%). The most common conflicts were with wiring (21%), external distance between trees (44%), facades (15%) and lamp posts (14%). The use of the same exotic species found in Brazilian cities, the empirical planting carried out by the population and the deficient percentage of individuals and species were also observed. Aiming to expand and qualify the afforestation of Teixeira de Freitas, some measures were proposed, including a selection of native species. Thus, it is expected that the data presented here can provide powers to make Brazilian cities more autonomous, including Teixeira de Freitas.