Composição florística da mata ciliar no baixo rio Gramame, Paraíba, Brasil

Riparian forest has a key ecological and economic significance to productive chains associated with it. This study aimed to conduct a floristic survey of riparian forest stretches in the Gramame river, state of Paraiba, Brazilian Northeast region, and analyze the floristic similarity with Brazilian riparian vegetation fragments. We found 136 species belonging to 106 genera and 43 families. The most representative families were: Fabaceae (19 spp.), Cyperaceae (16 spp.), and Rubiaceae (11 spp.). The predominant habit was herbaceous and the best represented biological spectrum was camephyte. Regarding the geographic distribution, there was a predominance of widely distributed species associated with the Neotropical province. The distribution patterns have shown a low similarity between areas, and largely distributed species stand out. Similarity analysis pointed out that the area was floristically related to other two coastal areas in the Brazilian Northeast and Southeast regions. Only species typically related to estuarine environments might explain the floristic connections detected.