Colonial history impacts urban tree species distribution in a tropical city

Urban forests associated with green infrastructure for sustainable outcomes are particularly critical in the Global South, where some of the world’s fastest-growing cities are located. However, compared to temperate cities, the drivers of urban tree species distribution in tropical cities remain understudied. In this study, we quantify the spatial distribution and abundance of urban forests in the tropical city of Georgetown, Guyana. British colonialism has shaped this city, including forced movement of peoples under slavery from Africa and indentured servants from the Indian Subcontinent. We studied how this multicultural context has influenced tree species distributions in the capital city of the only Anglophone country in South America. We quantified the abundance of tree species using a stratified sampling design to distribute transects across fifteen neighborhoods that vary in distance to the colonial center of the city and ethnic composition. We recorded a total of 57 unique speci...