Species Richness and Density of Palms in Terra Firme Forests of Amazonia

f ABSTRACT The characteristics of the palm community in Amazonian terra firme forests are defined from three inventories carried out in the lower Tocantins (east), the lower Rio Negro (center), and the lower Ucayali (west) valleys. At all sites, most of the palms are small, understory species; the palm community is mainly under 10 m in height (99.8 to 99.9%); and adult arborescent palms occur at very low densities. Species richness and diversity are dearly higher in the western and central forests. The difference in density seen in the latter sites reflects a difference in dominant life forms. Spatial occupation of the understory by palms is almost complete at both sites: in the western forest by a large number of small axes from rhizomatous species, and in the central forest by a lower , e