Urban Trees of Coastal Karnataka

Presently 50% of the global population lives in cities which occupy only 3% of the land area and it is expected that the urban population will further rise to 67% in the next 50 years. In developing countries about 44% of the population currently lives in urban areas which is likely to increase considerably in the next 20 to 30 years. During the last 50 years the population of India has grown two and a half times. But the urban population has grown nearly five times. This kind of rapid urbanization is bringing complex changes to ecology economy and society at local regional and global scales. Conservation and restoration of urban green spaces comprising urban trees and other plants are one important aspect of improving the environmental quality of the urban areas. The term ‘urban plants’ generally includes plants growing both within the built environment as well as roadside avenues and public places in urban systems. They play a very significant role in the urban environment and serve many functions such as climate change mitigation by carbon sequestration air quality improvement by air pollution abatement oxygen generation noise reduction mitigation of urban heat-island effects microclimate regulation and stabilization of soil groundwater recharge prevention of soil erosion biodiversity conservation and source of ecosystem goods to urban inhabitants. They also have aesthetic socio-religious and recreational value in urban contexts. In spite of their eco-sociological importance urban biodiversity has not received much scientific attention in any state of India. Therefore in this book tree diversity of selected Coastal towns of Karnataka state is envisaged. The common name Botanical name Morphological characters and Uses of some of the important tree species is described in this book.