A preliminary account of the Rubiaceae of a central Amazonian terra firme forest

Data are presented for the occurrence of 62 species of Rubiaceae from 89 hectares of terra firme forest in the central Brazilian Amazona that were surveyed as part of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments (BDFF) Project. These species exhibit six geographic distribution patterns: (1) widespread neotropical (14.3%); (2) Amazonian and Guayana (33.9%); (3) Amazonian (17.9%); (4) central and eastern Amazonian (12.5%); (5) central and western Amazonian (14.3%); and central Amazonian (7.1%). Quantitative data are presented for 37 of these Rubiaceae that occur as trees 10 cm dbh or greater. These species are ranked by calculating a "Within Family Importance Value" (WFIV), defined as a sum of the relative frequencies, densities, and dominances of species in the family, multiplied by 100. The results showed that the ecologically most important species is Chimarrhis turbinata, with a WFIV of 83.5. The second most important species, Coussarea racemosa, has a WFIV half that amount, 41.4. A total of 365 individual trees of Rubiaceae were recorded from the 89 ha, and these were quite scattered throughout the area with little or no tendency to clump. There are seven species having dry fruits with wind-dispersed seeds that tend to be taller trees than the 30 others species with fleshy, animal-dispersed fruits. A synopsis of the ecology importance, distribution, and habitat preferences is given for each species. A new combination is made, Palicourea anisoloba (Muell. Arg.) Boom & Campos (Psycotria anisoloba).