La flora urbana del cantón Riobamba, provincia de Chimborazo.

Abstract

Due to its location into a strategic area of the globe, Ecuador is considered the third most megadiverse country around the world. It has wide wealth of fauna and abundance of flora; there is a special emphasis on its flora because of the great variety and existence of unique species in the world; nevertheless, the information about its distribution within the country is limited for that reason this research is focused on the urban flora analysis in Riobamba city, Chimborazo province. The analysis was carried out through investigative, non-experimental methods, relying on bibliographic reviews and field work. The study was divided into three stages. First, the situation of the urban flora of the city was determined by identifying the area of study, the green spaces within the urban area of the city; these were classified by villages; after that, photographs of the identified flora species were taken in order to identify and analyze their state of conservation and origin. Second, a dimensional analysis of conservation and diversity of urban flora was developed through the application of a characterization matrix and statistical graphics on the information gathered from the identified parks. Third, conservation and tourism use strategies were proposed, each one with its correspondent projects and activities with the purpose of publicizing the flora contribution in the urban sector of the city and consequently contributing to its conservation and this research. It is expected that this work could be replicated in other cities of the province and country.