In tropical rain forest ecosystems, the creation of human-modified landscapes (HMLs) has resulted in a complex and spatially heterogeneous mixture of habitat types ranging from pristine forests through to agricultural and pasture lands. Studies into what governs plant communities in these areas should therefore seek to assess a wide variety of landscapes to gain an accurate understanding of these dynamics. In neotropical rainforests, palms (Arecaceae) are ecologically important floristic elements, yet evaluations of communities within HMLs remain limited. The goal of this thesis was to determine how human land use affects palm regeneration and how palm abundance, diversity and community composition range across a range of forest habitat in NW Ecuador. To do so, I inventoried palm communities, recording all individuals and multiple environmental variables in 975 10 x 10 m plots that consisted of 76% forest, 16% pasture, 4% cropland, and 3% transitional lands. No palm regeneration occurred in areas actively being managed for anthropic uses. Adult and canopy palms increased in abundance and changed in community composition in response to altered forest structure, potentially indicating that remnant canopy palms are having a disproportionately large effect on palm community assembly in disturbed habitats. Juvenile richness declined with more degraded forest structure, potentially presaging a limited future assemblage of palms due to altered ecological processes. These results provide insight into how human-induced modifications may affect palm communities in a future where their success has become increasingly tied to HMLs