SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN TREE COVERAGE IN AQUIDAUANA (MS): INSIGHTS FOR MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE

Urban forests provide numerous ecosystem services that help improve the quality of life in cities. The reduction of these forests is a matter of concern as they are an indicator of the amount of ecosystem services provided to citizens. Gaining insight into the tree distribution within a city is essential to designing more effective urban forest management strategies to maximize benefits and ecosystem services to citizens more equitably and fairly. The objective of this study was to verify how street trees in Aquidauana (MS) are distributed across different neighborhoods and to indicate areas that require more attention. A survey was carried out through a tree census between January and June 2023, in which 27,801 trees were counted on 307 streets, totaling 441 kilometers of sidewalk (63 trees/km). The abundance of trees along the public roads in Aquidauana is below the recommended minimum, requiring a 24% increase in trees on the city's sidewalks (planting 8,970 trees), with an average investment of R$ 924,500.00. We analyzed the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), identifying the highest averages in the Trindade, São Francisco, Exposição and Guanandy neighborhoods. The neighborhoods with the highest Normalized Difference Built-up Area Index (NDBI) were Alto, Santa Terezinha and Serraria, and those with the lowest built-up area index were Cidade Nova, Trindade and Centro. Our results indicate that tree distribution along public roads is not homogeneous and the Nova Aquidauana neighborhood is considered a priority area in this regard.