Phytosanitary Analysis of Trees in Summit Municipal Park

In recent decades, urban expansion in Central America and the Caribbean has led to significant landscape transformations, reducing green areas and the presence of trees threatening urban sustainability. Urban forests have a key role, providing ecosystem services such as temperature regulation and recreational areas; however, they face numerous challenges such as pollution and pests attacks. Summit Municipal Park, a key urban forest on the outskirts of Panama, hosts a high diversity of species whilst attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually. This may constitute a significant pressure on its phytosanitary status. The study evaluated 143 trees of 53 species in the park, revealing that 86% show signs of disease. The main conditions include dry branches (47.58%), termite damage (39.52%), and dead branches (31.45%). The most frequent species, such as Lagerstroemia speciosa with 16 individuals and Swietenia macrophylla with 20, also showed disease prevalence.