Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site No.5 in the Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park, northern Rio de Janeiro State protects a region rich in habitats and flora. We describe the variation in flora and structure of the herbaceous layer of the open Clusia scrub formation at three different sites near two coastal lagoons. All herb layer plants were sampled at each site in 200 1x1m quadrats (total: 600m²); number of plants and percent cover were recorded in each quadrat. These sites were compared as to similarity (Sørensen), diversity (Shannon: H') and evenness (J'). A total of 3,021 plants were sampled in 39 species, Allagoptera arenaria (Gomes) Kuntze, Vriesea neoglutinosa Mez, Aechmea nudicaulis (L.) Griseb., Stigmaphyllon paralias A. Juss., Neoregelia cruenta (Graham) L.B. Sm., Anthurium maricense Nadruz & Mayo, Pilosocereus arrabidae (Lem.) Byles & G.D. Rowl. and Ipomoea imperati (Vahl) Griseb. had the highest importance values. The diversity index was H' = 1.89 nats/m² (J' = 0.52) based on plant cover in order to avoid having to determine what constituted an individual and because this parameter represented the oligarchic structure more precisely. Site A is significantly different from sites B and C in number of individuals and herbaceous cover, but not in number of species and diversity indices. Our results differ in part from those observed previously for the shrub layer, thus indicating a need for studies on spatial distribution and species associations in order to clarify the relationship between these two strata.
herb layer; sandy coastal plain; oligarchic structure; LTER; Brazil
