VISITORS' AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF TREES IN URBAN GREEN SPACES AND THEIR ABILITY OF ACCURATE SPECIES IDENTIFICATION

Istanbul's historical groves are important green areas consisting of large tree communities that have been protected and developed in a historical process and they meet the recreational needs of city residents. The purpose of this study, after revealing the richness and composition of woody plant species in a historical city grove, is to understand whether or not the visitors notice the plant richness of the grove and to test visitors' ability to identify tree species using photographs of the most common tree species in the grove. Results showed that 9388 woody plants belonging to 211 species, 111 genera and 55 families were found in Emirgan Grove. Perceived plant species richness within the grove was often well below the actual richness recorded in woody plant inventory. Frequency of visits had a significant relationship with the visitor awareness of tree species but it did not contribute meaningfully to the knowledge of species identification. Moreover, there was no indication that more abundant trees were better identified by visitors. Trees that have distinctive looks, fragrant or conspicuous flowers and typical fruits were better identified rather than the most abundant trees. These results can help to develop education programs to improve citizens' awareness and knowledge of plant species in urban areas.

Automated summary

Istanbul's historical groves are important green areas consisting of large tree communities that have been protected and developed in a historical process and they meet the recreational needs of city residents. The purpose of this study is to understand whether or not the visitors notice the plant richness of the grove and to test visitors' ability to identify tree species. Results showed that the perceived plant species richness within the grove was often well below the actual richness recorded. The frequency of visits had a relationship with the visitor awareness of tree species, but it did not contribute meaningfully to the knowledge of species identification.