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Throughout Brazilian Amazonia anthropogenic soils that are the product of pre-Columbian settlements are called Terra Preta de Índio (Indian Dark Earths, TPI). These soils are dramatically different from surrounding soils due to long-term human activity, but there is little information about how secondary forest succession is affected by these differences. We tested if community structure (density, richness and basal area), floristic composition and domesticated species’ richness and density were similar between TPI and non-anthropogenic soils (NAS) in 52 25 × 10 m secondary forest plots in different successional stages near three traditional communities along the middle Madeira River, Central Amazonia. We sampled 858 woody individuals on TPI (77 domesticated) and 1095 on NAS (27 domesticated); 550 understory palms on TPI (169 domesticated) and 778 on NAS (123 domesticated). We found 179 …