ANALYSIS OF VASCULAR EPIPHYTIC VEGETATION IN THE STREET TREES OF THE UVARANAS NEIGHBORHOOD, PONTA GROSSA-PR

Abstract

Urban afforestation, as one element of the urban landscape, comprises a complex and essential ecosystem that can generate conflicting or beneficial relationships. In neotropical forests, epiphytic flora is an important component in maintaining this ecosystem. Vascular epiphytes are non-parasitic organisms that germinate and live on trees or shrubs without absorbing nutrients from the soil for at least part of their life cycle. Despite their relevance, surveys of epiphytes on urban trees in Brazil are scarce. The Uvaranas neighborhood represents the first Street tree inventory in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, to include epiphytes as part of the survey. Thus, the objective of this research is to present the results obtained and highlight the relevance of this methodological approach for surveys in your environments. In total, 1185 phorophytes were recorded, on which 1730 epiphytes were observed, distributed across 20 species, with the genera Tillandsia, Microgramma, and Pleopeltis standing out. The frequency of these groups is consistent with other studies conducted in the urban environment of the Atlantic Forest and collaborates with a trend towards homogenization of this vegetation due to the process of anthropization. The use of the application enabled the connection of data on this vegetation integrated with the Urban tree survey of the neighborhood, demonstrating its potential to foster further research on epiphytes in urban forests.