Status of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City

Abstract

According to a survey for the urban vegetation of Guangzhou, urban vegetation has a significantly difference from natural vegetation because of intense human impacts. The research was conducted in a synthetic survey for soil, species diversity, roadside trees and ecological function of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City. The results showed that: (1) soil densities of urban roadside and park forests were higher than mean density of natural forest soil. The pH values of soil in urban roadside were higher too, and the content of organic matter and the concentration of nitrogen were lower. (2) Species diversity of urban vegetation was lower. The most number of species was only 16 species in tree layers of urban forest. (3) Tree growth was limited by narrow space in high-density urban area, where the trees with defects and disorders were common. (4) Comparing with mature natural forests, the productivity of urban vegetation was lower. The effect of urban vegetation on balance of carbon and oxygen were influenced by the low primary production of urban vegetation. Therefore, the growth condition for urban vegetation should be improved. Biodiversity, primary production and ecological function should be increased for urban vegetation in order to improve urban eco-environment.

Keywords

Urban vegetation / Status / Human impact / S731.2 / A

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