Abstract
Abstract We conducted an inventory of the fern, lycophyte and non-palm monocotyledon ground-herbs of terra firme riparian forests in the lower Tapajós region of the Brazilian Amazon. Eight 1.5 × 250 m plots, totaling 0.3 hectares, were surveyed along the watersheds of the Cupari and Curuá-Una rivers, located at the Tapajós National Forest, Pará, Brazil. To characterize the ground-herb community, we calculated species richness, abundance and Fisher’s alpha for each plot. To analyze turnover, we compared composition among plots by pairwise Bray-Curtis distance. In total, we sampled 3,130 individuals, 58 species, 27 genera and 20 families of riparian ground-herbs. Marantaceae (14 spp) was the richest family and Poaceae the most abundant family (738 individuals). The fern Triplophyllum glabrum (Tectariaceae) was the most frequent species, observed in 87.5 % of plots. Ground-herbs communities in the studied area have high species turnover, making it necessary to invest time and resources to adequately characterize and manage riparian habitats. The ground-herb community composition observed in the riparian zone here resembles that of other non-riparian forested sites in the Amazon with the plant families Marantaceae, Pteridaceae and Poaceae generally being the most commonly represented in the Amazonian ground-herb stratum. We highlight the importance of herb inventories, especially in conservation units.
Highlights
Ground-herbs are an important component of the vegetation that make up terra firme riparian forests
Riparian zones are the interface between riverine aquatic and terrestrial environments, and they are considered vulnerable to human actions and climate change (Capon et al 2013)
In Amazonia, the vegetation of the riparian zone is both non-forested and forested, with the forested regions comprised of flooded forests and non-flooded (Martins 2007; Naiman et al 2005)
Summary
Ground-herbs are an important component of the vegetation that make up terra firme riparian forests. The structural, functional and ecosystemic characteristics of riparian zones are notable for their maintenance of rich biodiversity and their ecosystem services (Naiman et al 1993; Pokrovsky 2016). It is essential they are well inventoried to better understand their regional uniqueness for contemporary comparison, and as a baseline for future assessments under change scenarios. In Amazonia, the vegetation of the riparian zone is both non-forested and forested, with the forested regions comprised of flooded forests (e.g., várzeas, igapós) and non-flooded (terra firme) (Martins 2007; Naiman et al 2005). In Central Amazonia, the diversity within this forest component is dominated by non-palm monocotyledons, ferns and lycophytes (Drucker et al 2008; Moulatlet et al 2014)
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