Ecological services of urban vegetation in Sarguja (Chhattisgarh), India

The urban area is the most diverse land-use due to various types of interferences. Urban vegetation is, therefore, a scarce resource and investigation on the potentiality and ecological services are yet to be explored properly across the world. This study investigates the floristic diversity, biomass, carbon (C) stock, and CO2 mitigation in the urban environment. The study area was explored across four directions i.e., east, west, north, and south with random sampling techniques. The density of trees, saplings, and seedlings ranged between 170–240 stems ha−1, 0–50 ha−1, and 30–420 ha−1, respectively. The basal cover of the tree and sapling varied from 14.10–39.26 m2 ha−1, and 0–0.17 m2 ha−1, respectively. For the tree layer, the Shannon index value ranged between 2.95 and 3.44, Simpsons index from 0.10–0.14, equitability from 1.28–1.43, richness from 1.67–2.19, and beta diversity from 2.00–2.55. The major ecological function performed by the urban vegetation in terms of biomass, C storage and CO2 mitigation ranged between 166.03–720.12 t ha−1, 60.36–319.35 t ha−1 and 221.52–1172.03 t ha−1, respectively being highest towards the east and least at the south. This finding reports Mangifera indica, Shorea robusta, Ficus benghalensis, Delonix regia, Acacia mangium, Azadirachta indica, and Dalbergia sissoo contributes significant ecological services in terms of biomass, C storage and CO2 mitigation and thus can be utilized for urban planning, greening, and sustainable development.