EXPLORING THE STREET TREE DIVERSITY, DENSITY, COMPOSITION, AND SHADE IN URBAN RESIDENTIAL AREAS OF VISAKHAPATNAM.
Allu Revathi Devi1
, Vijayalaxmi J2 and Ramesh Srikonda3
,
Street trees form an essential part of green infrastructure which contributes to the resilience of the
city. Stewardship and stake holder preferences are one of the factors in sustainability of street
trees and their diversity and composition in residential areas. This study aims to understand the
existing conditions and practices in the plantation of street trees in residential areas. Plotted
residential layouts of areas ranging between 18-25acres with road widths less than 9mtrs., 9mtrs
to 12mtrs and greater than12mtrs is taken to compare and assess for diversity, density,
composition, and distribution along with the shade analysis across the six zones of the city of
Visakhapatnam, India. A total stem count of 1896 trees accounting to 83 species, 73genus and 25
families are recorded across the selected neighborhoods. The diversity is rated high when
evaluated against the Shannon index and Simpson’s index. It is found that the Sant amour formula
of the species diversity as indicated 10/20/30 is not met with. The density of the trees per 100
metre length ranged from 9 trees to 20 trees but the tree sizes differ, which would have varying
results in the ecosystem services provided. The composition of native to exotic trees is 60-40%
respectively. As the neighborhood character keeps changing with re-densification, there are
frequent replacement of trees resulting in younger trees accounting for more percentage as against
old trees. The recent plantation drives also replace them with fast growing trees. The parameters
assessed gives us evidence to the approach residents of the neighborhood take in the planting
patterns. The patterns that evolve in this process can become indicators for evolving a framework
and enable better practices.