Agro-ecology Characteristic and Diversity of Fruit Tree Species as Street Greenery in Bandung City

Abstract

The trend of using fruit trees as green plants in urban areas continues to increase in Indonesia. On the other hand, the agroecology of fruit trees as greenery in urban areas is still not well identified, including limiting factors that affect plant growth. The aim of the study was to identify agroecology characteristics and diversity of fruit tree species as street greenery. The objects of observation in this study were the diversity of fruit trees along the road in Bandung using the transect method following the vehicle’s path. In general, 23 species of street greenery were found consisting of 14 species were fruit trees. The Shannon-Wiener’s diversity index (H’) of street greenery was 1.29-1.94 which indicated medium diversity. The Simpson dominance index (C) ranged from 0.18 to 0.48 means that there were no dominant plant species on each road. Calabur trees can be found on all types of roads, indicating that this fruit tree has been intentionally planted as street greenery. Further studies on 14 fruit trees on 11 road sections showed that the main limiting factors of the tree growth were citizens used sites below the canopy to run informal businesses, canopy interfered with cables of city utilities, and roots situated in narrow growing spaces. The overall fruit trees risk assessment did not find a high level of risk. Based on the results, it was concluded that fruit trees can be considered as street greenery; however, it needs further studies related to morphological characteristics and plant suitability based on designed functions.

Keywords: food security, urban forest, multi-functional plants, smart city