ESTRUCTURA Y COMPOSICIÓN FLORÍSTICA DEL BOSQUE DE LA LLANURA ALUVIAL INUNDABLE DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA: II. EL SOTOBOSQUE DE LA RESTINGA

Structure and floristic composition of small trees and shrubs (1.5 m height to 10 cm DBH) are described in two flood plain forests of the lower Ucayali river, Peruvian Amazon. The forests are of high and low restinga type, on an annual average flooded around 1 and 2 months, respectively. The soils are nutrients rich entisolls, and the vegetation forms closed high canopy forests with presence of emergents. A total of 25 permanent sample plots covering 0.64 ha were established. They are nested within six quadratic one-hectare permanent sample plots where large individuals (>= 10 cm DBH) were inventoried. Overall average density and basal area of the understory is 4 458/ha and 5.0 m2/ha, respectively. The families of Moraceae, Leguminosae, Annonaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Lauraceae are among the most important tree families, while important shrub and small tree families are Violaceae, Rubiaceae, Melastomataceae, and Olacaceae. Some 208 and 204 tree species out of a total of 264 are registered in the restinga forest over and understories, respectively. Fifty-six percent of the species are shared between the two forest strata, while around 22% are confined to each of them. Species present only in the understorey are predominantly shrubs of treelets, while some of the species with a presence only in overstorey are probably early succession species about to disappear from the forests.