Woody flora of natural forest gaps in a bamboo-dominated forest remnant in southwestern Amazonia

Abstract: Forest gaps, created by the falling of one or more trees, have been seen as a key factor for the maintenance of local plant diversity in tropical forests. In this study, our goal was to determine the floristic composition of woody plants colonizing natural gaps and in the understory of an open, bamboo-dominated (Guadua weberbaueri Pilg.) forest in southwestern Amazonia, Acre, Brazil. We sampled and identified woody plants (≥1 m tall and DBH≤10 cm) in 20 forest gaps and nine adjacent understories. In total, 1656 plants were identified in 159 species, 116 genera and 45 families. A list of species was created, containing habitat, habit, functional group, threat status (Brazilian Flora Red List) and abundance data for each species.