In "restingas", because favorable microhábitats have patchy distribution, and due to the high vegetative reproduction rate in bromeliads, we tested the hypothesis that the pattern of spatial distribution of bromeliads in a "restinga" habitat would be aggregated. We used the "restinga" of the Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba as our hypothesis test area. We analyzed the spatial distribution pattern of each studied species using Morisita dispersion Index (Id). We found 10 bromeliad species, with 10179 individuals in the 0,98 ha sampled. In the study area, nine species had an aggregated distribution pattern (Id > 1). We suggest that the aggregated distribution pattern of bromeliads may be explained by the rate of vegetative reproduction, distribution of the favorable abiotic conditions and availability substrates in clumps, which occur in patches in the study area, favoring the bromeliads occurrence.
Aggregated distribution; vegetative reproduction; clumps patches