- A research project from the University of Valladolid in which the City Council has collaborates scientifically dated the shadow bananas of the sand that reach 170 years, an exceptional figure within the context of urban trees in the Iberian Peninsula.
The life of a city tree is very complicated. The asphalting, pollution and even the changes in urban planning and layout makes the life of city trees quite brief. However, in some circumstances, certain factors converge, and allow some trees to survive for centuries, even in the center of large cities.
Project researchers resist were surprised when their Analysis began to reveal the centenary ages of some shadow bananas in the center of Bilbao. The bananas of the Arenal reach 130 years and heights of 40 meters, those of Mrs. Casilda Iturrizar exceed 120 years, but in the Plaza de San Vicente and Jardines de Albia there are trees over 170 years. “Several of the identified trees far exceed 150 years, an exceptional age for urban specimens in the center of a city. This natural legacy represents a valuable heritage for Bilbao”, Gabriel Sangüesa Barreda, professor and researcher at the Soria Campus at the University of Valladolid.
The project resists funded by the MICIU and the State Research Agency analyzes the vulnerability of the urban trees of different cities of the Iberian Peninsula in the face of climate change and its impact intensified by the conditions of urban environments. In Bilbao, researchers at the Soria campus of the University of Valladolid, in close collaboration with the City Council, They evaluated the growth and age of the main tree species of the city, such as the shadow banana, the cedars, the chestnuts of the Indies and the cypresses.
The oldest trees were planted in the early or mid-nineteenth century, within the framework of the remodeling of the parks, and have managed to survive climatic catastrophes such as the floods of 1983 or the intense drought of 1989-1990, but also to important urban interventions, such as the construction of the subway parking of the Arenal. “These trees are witnesses to the history of BilbaoLiterally, the chemical composition of its wood reflects the rise and decline of the high ovens. His information is very relevant to understand the transformation of the city ”, José Miguel Olano, Bilbaino affirms, in addition to a grape professor in Soria.
-The project studied the cities of Bilbao, Madrid, Soria, Córdoba, Jaén and Avilés to see the differences between large and medium cities. The shadow banana was studied in all of them. This species that is a specialist in urban environments does not exist in nature, because it is a hybrid created by man between two species that live in fully remote places on the planet. “It is very possible that in some historical gardens there are trees both or older than these, but the surprising thing in Bilbao is that they are in the urban center. It says a lot about the appreciation of the Bilbao by these trees.”says Jaime Madrigal, grape researcher at the Palencia campus.
Quantify and analyze the ages of urban trees in cities is essential to properly assess this heritage and take it into account in future interventions.
It is a scientific project from which data is still obtained and that the final results are expected to obtain in the coming months.
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