Espacialização da arborização de vias públicas por densidade e níveis de atenção na área urbana de Ponta Grossa (PR)

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of afforestation in public roads in the urban area of Ponta Grossa - PR using satellite images. Urban afforestation, especially in streets, provides a range of social, environmental and economic benefits so that it is recognized as a public service. Due to its importance for the quality of life of society in general, it is necessary to develop qualitative and quantitative inventories of afforestation with the purpose of offering subsidies so that the public service can elaborate and improve management plans for urban afforestation. In this context, the use of geotechnologies has been widely used in studies on urban afforestation as a support tool, facilitating the development of social and environmental research. Regarding the development of this research, the software Quantum Gis version 2.1816 Las Palmas was used, it is free and in the public domain, with the application of the kernel density estimator through heat maps, which is the main applied methodology. The methodology used by Iwama (2014) was also used, which establishes the number of trees per km radius, as well as field surveys conducted in some neighborhoods of Ponta Grossa, which provided data to support the developed analysis. According to the study, in the urban area of Ponta Grossa there is a very low density of afforestation corresponding to only 3.6 trees for each 100 meters radius. Regarding the number of trees per km radius, Ponta Grossa presents an average of 22,52 tree/km. The potential for afforestation would be 64.122 trees, however 28,925 were mapped, that is, a deficit of 35.197 trees. In the neighborhoods where field surveys were carried out, there was a predominance of exotic species corresponding to 59.53%. In general, the main streets of each neighborhood, which have commercial and heavy traffic, had low densities and even the lack of afforestation due to the width of the sidewalks, which are mostly very narrow and unsuitable for afforestation, because of remodeling that prioritized the widening of the streets. Boa Vista, Neves, Oficinas and Uvaranas neighborhoods were the ones that presented, in general, the lowest densities of afforestation and Estrela, Piriquitos, Chapada and Contorno neighborhood presented the highest densities. However, even the sections and neighborhoods that have the greatest densities of afforestation, present worrying indexes that deserve public service attention, since there is potential for the development of projects aimed at afforestation, as well as the densification among the trees. Thus, based on the results presented here, it is extremely important to develop an afforestation and densification project for public roads in the urban area of Ponta Grossa, aiming a better quality of life for the population in general.