This study investigates the relative importance of dispersal- and niche-related mechanisms structuring the assemblages of vascular epiphytes in a 10-ha secondary Atlantic Forest patch in Sa˜o Paulo city Brazil. We tested for the effect of characteristics of host trees (species height trunk diameter presence of lianas and distance to a near stream) and of space on epiphyte abundance species richness and species composition of vascular epiphytes. Inside a 0.2-ha plot all 86 trees with diameter at breast height [13 cm (27 species) were recorded as well