BOOK RELEASE: MORPHOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY IN THE URBAN GREEN SPACES OF THE CITY OF PORTO

The second issue of the book ‘Morphology and Biodiversity in the urban green spaces of the city of Porto’, entitled ‘Habitat mapping and characterization”, published by CIBIO-InBIO, is now freely available for download.

The book, written by Paulo Farinha Marques, Cláudia Fernandes, Filipa Guilherme, José Miguel Lameiras, Paulo Alves and Robert Bunce, was officially presented on February 23, 2015, at CIBIO-InBIO in Vairão (please click here for further details about this event).

Book description:

Urban green areas can be considered an essential refuge for wild or cultivated species of plants and animals. This study takes place in the city of Porto, the heart of a metropolitan area of nearly two million inhabitants. Public parks, gardens and green squares were chosen as the object of study due to their relevance in the urban environment. This publication focuses on a selection of 8 representative green spaces.

For the study of habitats, a new mapping methodology was created, largely inspired on the work of European projects BioHab and EBONE and adapted to urban context. The methodology is based on land cover to classify Urban Habitat Categories, according to life forms (vegetation) and non life forms (artificial structures, bare soil or water surfaces). It suggests great potential for biodiversity surveys and monitoring schemes in a multitude of urban environments. Here are presented the results of its application to the selected public parks, gardens and green squares in the city of Porto, Portugal.

This book is the result of a research project that started in 2009 and has been funded by FCT (Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology) under the title “Urban Green Structure: Study of the relation between public space morphology and flora and fauna diversity in the city of Porto”. The research and consulting team is lead by Prof. Paulo Farinha Marques (CIBIO - Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources) and comprises a multidisciplinary team of Landscape Architects, Landscape Ecologists specialized both in flora and fauna, Urbanists and mathematicians.

The book can be downloaded here.