Urban agrobiodiversity: floristic composition, plant species richness and diversity in home gardens of Boa Vista, Roraima

Abstract

Urban home gardens are sources an extensive range of plant species that can be alternative to dietary supplementation of peripheral populations in large and medium Amazonian cities. This study aimed to investigate the composition, richness and diversity of plants in the city of Boa Vista, Roraima. Therefore, it was performed a floristic inventory of 60 urban home gardens sampled in three neighborhoods. All survey resulted in the observation of 4,197 individuals dispersed in 77 different botanical families and 424 species. The most abundant families were Asparagaceae, Araceae and Rubiaceae. The non-arboreal life forms plants showed higher diversity, indicating a higher level of complexity in this group. On the other hand, higher similarity was observed among the arboreal life forms, indicating a high degree of uniformity in the choice of tree species, particularly fruit trees. Ornamental plant was the category of dominant use in total (> 50%). The general findings of this study indicate that the home gardens of Boa Vista are units of urban cultural practices involving conservation of species representing the Amazonian biodiversity, but strongly associated with traditional uses transiting intra and inter-Brazilian regions.