The flora and structure of a swamp forest occurring in a declivity in the municipality of Rio Claro, SP, was characterized in order to compare its floristic composition with other swamp forests in the countryside of São Paulo state. The trees (CBH >15 cm) were censused in 45 plots of 10 m × 10 m (0.45 ha). A total of 1,651 living plants in 49 species and 30 families were found. The diversity index (H') for species was 2.10 nats.individual-1, whereas the equability (J) was 0.54. The most important species (IV) were Euterpe edulis Mart., Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess., Talauma ovata A. St.-Hill., Cedrela odorata L., Dendropanax cuneatum Decne & Planch., and Protium spruceanum (Benth.) Engl. The high number of species found in this study can be related with different flooding intensities through the declivity, whereas the low floristic diversity was associated with a high relative density of few species, e.g. E. edulis (41%). The floristic comparison between swamp forests showed that: i) Calophyllum brasiliense, Cedrela odorata, Dendropanax cuneatum, Protium almecega, Styrax pohlii A. DC., Talauma ovata, and Tapirira guianensis Aubl. compose an important group of dominating species that determine a structural resemblance between the swamp forests in the countryside of São Paulo state; ii) the flora of these forests is very variable, with a large number of exclusive species in only one forest. The results indicates that each fragment of swamp forest besides being very important for occurrence of the populations associated to hidromorphic soils and presents floristic peculiarities that altogether, in a high scale, improve the great diversity.
floristic; phytosociology; swamp forest; tropical forest
