Luquilla field station, El Verde, after Hurricane Irma (just a few weeks before Hurricane Maria) Credit: Melissa Salva
Luquilla field station, El Verde, after Hurricane María Credit: Melissa Salva
Luquilla field station, El Verde, in 2020 Credit: Melissa Salva
The long term Canopy Trimming Experiment revealed many important aspects of hurricane disturbance, particularly that canopy opening caused more change in biota and biogeochemistry than debris deposition. More frequent disturbance led to canopy opening but less debris deposition, and changed forest species composition, which may alter resilience in the face of future disturbances. Frequent hurricane disturbance causes forest ecosystems to retain less carbon and export more nutrients.
For Further Reading:
Brokaw, NVL et al. 2012. A Caribbean forest tapestry: The multidimensional nature of disturbance and response. Oxford University Press, New York, New York.
McDowell, WH et al. 2013. Interactions between lithology and biology drive the long-term response of stream chemistry to major hurricanes in a tropical landscape. Biogeochemistry. doi: 10.1007/s10533-013- 9916-3
Schowalter, TD et al. 2017. Post-hurricane successional dynamics in abundance and diversity of canopy arthropods in a tropical rainforest. Environmental Entomology. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvw155
Shiels, AB et al. 2015. Cascading effects of canopy opening and debris deposition from a large-scale hurricane experiment in a tropical rainforest. BioScience. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biv111
Uriarte, M et al. 2012. Multidimensional trade-offs in species responses to disturbance: implications for successional diversity in a subtropical forest. Ecology. doi: 10.2307/23144033
Willig, MR et al. 2019. Long-term population trends in El Yunque National Forest (Luquillo Experimental Forest) do not provide evidence for declines with increasing temperature or the collapse of food webs. PNAS. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1820456116
