Plant species indicated for the recovery of degraded areas in Rondônia, Brazil

ABSTRACT Secondary forests account for more than half of the planet’s tropical formations. It is necessary to understand these forests in order to allow for efficient recovery and restoration processes of altered areas. In Rondônia state, in the Brazilian Amazon, where much of the natural vegetation cover has been altered over the last several decades, secondary forests have become particularly important. In this study, we selected species for restoration in Rondônia based on published work on secondary forests in the state, complemented with field collections by the authors. For each of the selected species, the successional category, dispersal syndrome and functional group was searched in the literature. Information regarding flowering and fruiting times as well as geographic distribution and habitats occupied in the state were obtained from vouchers deposited in herbaria. We listed 55 species from 49 genera and 23 families, of which 40% can be characterized as pioneers, 52.7% as secondary and 5.4% as climax species. Regarding functional group, 49% are diversity species and 34.5% are cover species. As for the dispersal syndrome, 60% are zoochoric, 16.3% anemochoric and 10.9% barochoric. Almost all of the species included in the list are common throughout the state and most are easy to recognize and identify. The species listed are present in all the main environments of Rondônia, and most are from terra firme forest. The listed species have the potential to play a fundamental role in the establishment and development of forests in altered and/or degraded areas in the state.