Urban floristic diversity in Bosnia and Herzegovina—the reflection of nature

Abstract

The floristic richness of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been extensively studied, however urban flora has only recently garnered attention, but no systematic surveys of urban ecosystems have been carried out. To address this problem, a study of the seven urban floras in Bosnia and Herzegovina was conducted to determine the pattern of floristic diversity and correlation with anthropogenic factors: size of the urban area, ratio of green areas in the total urban area, number of inhabitants, and population density. The first finding of the study is that urban floras in Bosnia and Herzegovina are rich in plant species. The results have shown that the urban floristic diversity largely reflects the natural vegetation of the urban environment, compared to urban floras in other parts of Europe. Species structure reflects the geographical location as well, so are the urban areas in the Mediterranean biogeographical region, Mostar and Blagaj, floristically richer, but at the same time species richness correlates with the total urban area, as in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Moreover, the proportion of alien species is low and there is no pronounced process of floras homogenisation. Of the anthropogenisation factors, population density correlates most strongly with the richness of urban flora. From the results, we have concluded that urban plant diversity correlates with both environmental and anthropogenic factors, in a way that provides a basis for establishment of conservation programs in urban ecosystems.