ABSTRACT

Trees provide habitat and resources for resident and transient fauna on the cities. The choice of tree species for urban planting follows multifactorial criteria, but little consideration is given to the resources they provide. We aimed to identify functional groups of 154 native tree species indicated for urban afforestation in the municipality of São Paulo from the floral and fruiting resources made available to potential floral and fruiting visitors. We observed a proportional number of species with abiotic and biotic dispersal and a predominance of bee-pollinated tree species or fleshy fruits consumed by birds. We proposed eight functional groups characterized by sharing potential floral and frugivorous visitors that showed uneven richness. A choice focused on taxonomic identification and species size may promote high functional redundancy and impact the richness of plant-animal interactions and decrease the permeability of cities for fauna.

Keywords:
urban afforestation; urban biodiversity; dispersion; functional groups; pollination