PROMOTING AND PRESERVING BIODIVERSITY IN URBAN GREEN SPACES IN A CITY OF CENTRAL

Solomou Alexandra1, Papadouli Katerina2, Plexida Sofia1, Kostopoulos Athanasios3 & Akrivou Evaggelia4

1Laboratory of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Management, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of , Fytokou str., Ν. Ionia, 384 46 Volos, Greece, Tel: +30 2421093281, e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 2Department of Agricultural Development, Municipality of , Asklipiou 18, 42100,Trikala, Greece, Tel: +30 2431351229, e-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Urban Planning, Municipality of Trikala, Asklipiou 18, 42100,Trikala, Greece, Tel: +30 2431351222, e-mail: [email protected] 4Department of Special Education of University of Thessaly, Argonafton & Filellinon Str., 382 21 Volos, Greece, e-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION RESULTS Biodiversity conservation in urban areas has become  In total, in the studied squares 96 species of woody plants (56 extremely important because of increasing human population alien ornamental species, 22 indigenous tree species and 18 in urban centers and it is one of the innovative ways to indigenous shrubs species), belonging to 38 families, were conserve biodiversity as suggested by several global recorded (Fig. 2). environmental conventions (Satterthwaite, 2002; CBD, 2009;  The most frequently occurring and abundant woody species were Khera et al., 2009). Platanus orientalis and Thuja orientalis (60%), and Ligustrum Objectives of the present study were to: (1) assess the japonicum (N=588) and Thuja orientalis (N=258), respectively. composition, structure and alpha diversity of woody vegetation  ″Vissarionas″ and ″Tzami″ exhibited the highest values of species in 30 squares of extent > 0.1ha at least, (2) investigate any richness, Shannon-Wiener and Simpson, and the Evenness (Pielou relationship between visitor’s satisfaction and square planting J). with the aid of a questionnaire.  Regarding visitor’s satisfaction from squares in general and from squares planting, it was observed that 15.8 and 14.7% were not MATERIALS AND METHODS satisfied, while only 8.9 and 7.4% of visitors were satisfied, The study was conducted at Trikala (39ο33΄Ν, 21ο46΄Ε), which respectively (Fig. 3). 2 is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece (Fig. 1). The city is  According to Pearson’s Chi-Square (Χ =158.52) tests, significant straddled by Lithaios river, which is a tributary of interaction (p<0.001) between the satisfaction of visitors regarding river. Similar to the most of small cities in Greece, Trikala, the squares and their planting was detected. with an extent of 69.2 km2, has a small population which was estimated in 2011 to be 62.154 citizens presenting a density of 898 residents/km2.

Figure 2. Woody plant species in the study area.

Figure 1. Study area. Figure 3. Visitor’s satisfaction from squares. CONCLUSIONS  The different alpha diversity of the squares is essential not only for the aesthetic view of the city, but also for the wellbeing of the citizens.  Key factors influencing urban green are the selection of plants and the possible inspirational, educational and cultural services they serve.  Conclusions drawn from this study should be used in the maintenance and improvement of a functional network of urban green spaces for the ecological dimension of a sustainable urban landscape. REFERENCES CBD (Convention of Biological Diversity). 2009. 2010 Biodiversity Target. /http://www.cbd.int/2010-target/S. Khera, N., Mehta, V., Sabata, B.C. 2009. Interrelationship of birds and habitat features in urban greenspaces in Delhi, India. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 8:187–196. Satterthwaite, D. 2002. Coping with Rapid Urban Growth. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, London.