Land Cover Patterns of Urban Lots and Their Contribution to Ecological Functions

Marise Barreiros Horta (), Sònia Maria Carvalho-Ribeiro, Jean François Mas, Francisco Medeiros Martins, Fernando de Moura Resende, Fernando Figueiredo Goulart and Geraldo Wilson Fernandes
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Marise Barreiros Horta: Departamento de Genética, Ecologia & Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
Sònia Maria Carvalho-Ribeiro: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Análise e Modelagem de Sistemas Ambientais, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
Jean François Mas: Centro de Investigaciones en Geografia Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia 58190, Mexico
Francisco Medeiros Martins: Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Diamantina 39100-000, MG, Brazil
Fernando de Moura Resende: Departamento de Genética, Ecologia & Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
Fernando Figueiredo Goulart: Departamento de Genética, Ecologia & Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
Geraldo Wilson Fernandes: Departamento de Genética, Ecologia & Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-25

Abstract: The green infrastructure of urban lots performs socio-ecological functions and provides several ecosystem services (ESs) in urban environments. By assessing the land cover patterns of such sites, one can deduce ecological functions and potential ESs. We represented the various land cover combinations of lots by mapping and classifying the vegetation quality of 2828 lots in the city of Belo Horizonte, Southeast Brazil. We performed cluster analysis of land cover with weighting according to ecological functions, potential for ES provision, and performance. Most lots (1024, 36.21%) were in the moderate vegetation quality class (trees/native vegetation between 25% and 50% or >50% herbaceous-shrubby vegetation), which included the largest plot of 383,300 m 2 and a median plot size of 403 m 2 . A total of 244 (8.63%) lots were in the highest vegetation quality class (trees/native vegetation between >50% and 100%). The lots included diverse vegetation cover combinations of up to ten land cover types, with two dominant types: herbaceous-shrubby vegetation and tree clumps. Among the four land cover patterns obtained, those covered by tree clusters (1193 lots; 42.18%) had the highest ecological performance and the greatest potential for regulating and supporting ESs. This cluster had the highest average land cover of tree clumps (49%) and the highest averages for native vegetation formations (2–6%). Our study showed a variety of land cover patterns and an expressive percentage of lots with capabilities to provide ecological functions and ESs, which can support urban sustainability policies that have yet to be addressed.

Keywords: ecosystem services; SDG; urban ecology; urban vacancy; vacant lots; vegetation quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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