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Hurricane Hugo: damage to a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Khadga Basnet ,
Gene E. Likens ,
F. N. Scatena  and
Ariel E. Lugo
Khadga Basnet
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, The Mew York Botanical Garden, Millbrook, Ny 12545 Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Gene E. Likens
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, The Mew York Botanical Garden, Millbrook, Ny 12545
F. N. Scatena
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Institute of Tropical Forestry, Rio Piedras, PR 00928
Ariel E. Lugo
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Institute of Tropical Forestry, Rio Piedras, PR 00928
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Abstract

Hurricane Hugo of September 1989 caused severe damage to the rain forest in the north-rust corner of Puerto Rico. We assessed the severity of damage distributed in space, species, and size-classes of trees in the Bisley Watersheds of the Luquillo Experimental Forest. We analyzed pie- and post-hurricane data for vegetation from transects established in 1987 and 1988. The severity of damage was significantly greater in valleys than on ridges and slopes. All the species except Dacryodes excelsa, Sloanea berteriana, and Guarea guidonia showed 100% severe damage. Large trees (> 70 cm DBH) were highly susceptible to hurricane damage, but there was no clear pattern in the small size-classes. D. excelsa (tabonuco) was the most resistant to damage by the hurricane. Tabonuco which has extensive root-grafts and root anchorage to bedrock and subsurficial rocks, apparently can survive frequent hurricanes and continue as a dominant species in this montane tropical rain forest. The high frequency of hurricanes, which can override other ecological and topographic factors, may largely determine the overall spatial pattern of species in this rain forest.

Keywords

disturbancedominant speciesHurricane HugoPuerto Ricotabonucotropical lain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 47 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

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