Vascular flora in public spaces of Santiago, Chile

Abstract

After an extensive two-year long research effort, the results document the diversity of vascular plants that grow in the public spaces of Santiago, Chile. We analyze the taxonomic composition, life-forms and phytogeographic origin of the vascular flora of Santiago and, finally, we compare the results with those of urban areas in the Northern Hemisphere. We identified 508 species, 100 families, and 338 genera. The families that showed the greatest richness were Asteraceae and Poaceae. We found that at least 85.1% of the species are exotic. The life-forms are similarly represented, although chamaephytes and geophytes are poorly represented. We conclude that the composition of the urban flora of Santiago differs from that of most Northern Hemisphere cities, due to the increased presence of exotic species, which is likely a consequence of the historical and cultural patterns of ornamentation. Therefore it is likely that this urban area would be an adverse environment for the establishment and development of native species. KEYWORDS:Central Chile, exotic plants, native plants, plant diversity, urban flora. RESUMENLos resultados documentan la diversidad de plantas vasculares que se desarrollan en el espacio público de Santiago en una investigación que se prolongó por dos años. Nosotros analizamos la composición taxonómica, la forma de vida y el origen fitogeográfico de la flora vascular y, finalmente, comparamos los resultados con aquellos de áreas urbanas del Hemisferio Norte. Se reconocen 508 especies, 100 familias y 338 géneros. Las familias que tienen mayor riqueza fueron Asteraceae y Poaceae. El 85,1% de las especies son exóticas. Las formas de vida están similarmente representadas, aunque las caméfitas y las geófitas están muy poco representadas. Concluimos que la composición de la flora urbana de Santiago se distingue de la mayoría de las ciudades del Hemisferio Norte por el mayor número de especies exóticas, que es probablemente una consecuencia de los patrones históricos y culturales de ornamentación, al tiempo que los espacios urbanos parecen representar un ambiente adverso para el establecimiento y desarrollo de especies nativas. PALABRAS CLAVE:Chile central, plantas exóticas, plantas nativas, biodiversidad de plantas, flora urbana.

A citizen-based platform reveals the distribution of functional groups inside a large city from the Southern Hemisphere: e-Bird and the urban birds of Santiago (Central Chile)

“…Santiago's bird species richness is similar to the median number of species reported for cities in the Australasian realm (Southern Hemisphere), and in the Nearctic realm (North Hemisphere) [6]. It is important to emphasize that the high native/exotic species ratio in Santiago contrasts with the observed pattern for plant species in this city, where 85% of the flora is exotic [69]. In this context, it has been proposed that urban areas with more native plant species tend to retain more native bird species [3], because the native plant species proportion [70] and volume of native vegetation [71] is positively correlated with native bird diversity in urban settlements.…”

Short Communication: The species diversity and composition of roadside trees in five cities in Sumatra, Indonesia

“…The higher number of introduced or exotic species in roadside trees and in urban ecosystem, in general, was also found in many parts of the world. Exotic species constituted 72% of roadside trees in Fortaliza, Brazil (Moro and Castro 2015), 85.1% of vegetation in public places in Santiago, Chile (Figueroa et al 2016), and 77% of urban parks in Bangalore, India 77% (Nagendra and Gopal 2010). More exotic species were also found in ten Nordic cities (Sjöman et al 2012), in Halifax, Canada (Turner et al 2005).…”

“…Not only for promoting diversity, street trees may also be used for conserving native species. So far, more exotic species than the native ones are found in streets and urban parks in many cities in the world, such as in Brazil (Moro and Castro 2015), in Santiago, Chile (Figueroa et al 2016), in Bangalore, India (Nagendra and Gopal 2010), in ten Nordic cities (Sjöman et al 2012), and in Halifax, Canada (Turner et al 2005). The presence of exotic species may bring deleterious effects to the local ones.…”

Nuevas Adiciones a La Flora Introducida De Chile

“…Estudios recientes estiman en 743 el número de especies introducidas (o exóticas) y naturalizadas en Chile, lo que representa alrededor del 15% de la flora chilena (Fuentes et al, 2013(Fuentes et al, , 2014Rodríguez et al, 2018). Por lo que refiere a la ciudad de Santiago de Chile, se calcula que el 85,1% de los 508 táxones que se registraron en los espacios públicos corresponden a especies introducidas (Figueroa et al, 2016). Fuentes et al (2014) apuntan que gran parte de ellas llegaron al país en la época de la colonización española; sin embargo, no es baladí el número de introducciones que tuvo lugar durante los siglos XIX y XX debido a la llegada de nuevos inmigrantes y la internacionalización de Chile.…”