Estructura y composición florística del Cerrado en el Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

We studied the structure and floristic composition of the Cerrado vegetation in two sites at the Parque Nacional "Noel Kempff Mercado", Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The results indicated that the sites are located within two different types of Cerrado communities: 1) cerrado and, 2) cerradao. The lower stratum (50 cm) was dominated by grasses, while higher strata were dominated by shrubs and sub-shrubs in the cerrado, and by trees in the cerradao. We founded 41 families, 90 genera, and 112 species in the cerrado, and 37 families, 39 genera and 106 species in the cerradao. For both sites, the plant families with greater coverage and species richness were: Gramineae (29 species, 51 % cover), Leguminosae (23 species, 4.8-5. 7% cover) and Guttiferae (3 species, 1-20% cover). Other important families were: Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Melastomataceae, with 7,6 species; 4,6 species; 8, 2 species; 2, 6 species for cerrado and cerradao, respectively. Herbs are the most important for the number of species, followed by grasses and shrubs in the cerrado and by shrubs, followed by herbs and grasses in the cerradao. Floristic similarity between the two communities was relatively low (39% according to Sorensen index).