ABSTRACT
The municipality of Armação dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro state, is included in the Cabo Frio region, one of the 14 Centres of Plant Diversity in Brazil. Aiming to characterize floristics and structure of the shrub-tree layer (DBH > 5 cm) of forests on coastal hills in this municipality, five sets of five 10 x 20 m plots were established on different slopes (total of 0.5 ha). The survey included 1193 individuals, 98 species and 36 families. Myrtaceae and Fabaceae (20 and 11 species) were the richest families, and Euphorbiaceae was the most abundant, comprising 39% of the individuals. The most important species were Pachystroma longifolium (IV = 31.9), Sebastiania nervosa (30.6), Chrysophyllum lucentifolium (11.3), Machaerium pedicellatum (10.5), Guapira opposita (9.9), Philyra brasiliensis (9.9), Capparis flexuosa (9.1), Lonchocarpus virgilioides (8.2), Syagrus romanzoffiana (7.6) and Acosmium lentiscifolium (7.5). The Shannon index (H') was 3.60 nat.ind.-1 and the evenness index (J') was 0.79. Species distribution seems to be influenced by the ecological characteristics of each slope, as a result of its orientation. The forests studied showed, in general, very low Jaccard's similarity with other forests from Rio de Janeiro.
Key words:
phytosociology; Jaccard's similarity; Atlantic forest complex; Cabo Frio region; Rio de Janeiro state