Valuation of some ecosystem services

Urban soils are subject on the one hand to direct and constant anthropogenic disturbance, and on the other to the indirect environmental consequences of urbanization. Indeed, urban growth and densification lead to a loss of green space coverage through landscape and ecosystem fragmentation, as well as the loss of soil properties. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess some of the ecosystem services (flood mitigation) provided by the soils of Lubumbashi's urban green spaces. Samples were collected from all the green spaces studied, with a total of 20 samples, 4 per site. Two statistical tests were applied to the data: the student test and the correlation matrix. Field results and laboratory analyses revealed that soil physical properties (infiltration, porosity and structure), with the exception of bulk density, are greater on vegetated soils than on bare soils.