Abstract
The impact of allergens emitted by urban green spaces on health is one of the main disservices of ecosystems. The objective of this work is to establish the potential allergenic value of some tree species in urban environments, so that the allergenicity of green spaces can be estimated through application of the Index of Urban Green Zones Allergenicity (IUGZA). Multiple types of green spaces in Mediterranean cities were selected for the estimation of IUGZ. The results show that some of the ornamental species native to the Mediterranean are among the main causative agents of allergy in the population; in particular, Oleaceae, Cupressaceae, Fagaceae, and Platanus hispanica. Variables of the strongest impact on IUGZA were the bioclimatic characteristics of the territory and design aspects, such as the density of trees and the number of species. We concluded that the methodology to assess the allergenicity associated with urban trees and urban areas presented in this work opens new perspectives in the design and planning of urban green spaces, pointing out the need to consider the potential allergenicity of a species when selecting plant material to be used in cities. Only then can urban green areas be inclusive spaces, in terms of public health.
Highlights
Urban green spaces (UGS) are of strategic importance to the quality of life of urban dwellers [1,2].They provide a series of ecosystem services (ES) that have direct and indirect effects on public health [3]
The largest number of species was registered in the Jardin des Plantes (Nantes), given its arboretum and botanical garden character, other parks exceeded 100 species, making these urban green zones true biodiversity hotspots in the urban environment [61,63]
This work presented a methodology to assess the allergenicity associated with urban trees and urban areas of different cities in the Mediterranean region, the high number of species analyzed allows its application to other bioclimatic regions
Summary
Urban green spaces (UGS) are of strategic importance to the quality of life of urban dwellers [1,2] They provide a series of ecosystem services (ES) that have direct and indirect effects on public health [3]. When establishing the net balance of benefits that UGS provide, we must, consider the negative factors emanating from natural functions of ecosystems or their anthropogenic manipulation [19]. These negative effects, defined by some authors as ecosystems disservices (ED) [20,21], generate important environmental and socioeconomic costs, and sometimes have a great impact on health [22]. In Europe, more than 150 million citizens suffer from chronic allergic diseases, with an estimated cost between 55-151 billion euros/year [25] to the National Health
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