The aim of this paper is to characterize forest vegetation in the Urucu River region, a petroleum drilling area of PETROBRAS. This information may contribute to the organized and productive use of the forest, based on scientific knowledge, so that economic returns can be obtained while conserving the environment. All tree, vine and palm stems over 10 cm DBH were inventoried in three hectares. A total of 2241 individuals were found in 60 families, 225 genera and 577 species or morphospecies. Three measures of ecological importance — abundance, dominance and frequency — expressed as three separate percentages were summed to give an Importance Value Index (IVIE). The two highest IVI were for Eschweilera coracea (DC.) S. A. Mori, with 15% in hectare 2, and E. wachenheimii (Benoist) Sandwith, with 14% in hectare 3. The highest Family Importance Indices averaged across the three hectares were for Lecythidaceae (51.62%), Sapotaceae (40.24%) and Chrysobalanacaeae (24.56%).
Floristic inventory; floristic composition; diversity /Tropical rain forest; Amazon