Palm Communities in the Forest Ecosystems of Amazonia

Abstract

The perception that the jungle totally covers the Amazon basin is accurate. This does not mean, however, that the forest is uniform. In fact, there are several forest types, each with clearly distinct floristic composition and architecture (Pires 1978; Guillaumet 1987). Forests on three main geomorphological units will be considered: unflooded uplands which include drylands and waterlogged soil areas; wetlands which are irregularly, periodically, or permanently flooded; and montane forests at medium and high elevation located on eastern Andean slopes, up to 2500 m, and on a few reliefs scattered at the periphery of the Amazon basin, in Guyana and southern Venezuela (complex of old sandstone table mountains, up to 3000 m in altitude, commonly known as “Guayana highland” or “tepuis” in Venezuela). The palm communities in these ecosystems will be characterized by their diversity of species and life forms, the density and vertical distribution of each species. An overview of Amazonian ecosystems is incomplete if it fails to take into account deforested areas, which have been rapidly increasing for the last 10 years, savannahs, and inselbergs which emerge from the green ocean of forests. Such an attitude was assumed by Daly and Prance (1989, p. 406) in their presentation of Brazilian Amazon forests, “some non-forested areas are included because they are highly specialized formations which have unique floras, are of limited expanse, and are situated well within the limits of the classic hylaean forests”.