Climate Change and Tropical Forests
Status
Ongoing
Start Date
January, 1980
Effective beginning 5/30/2025
This website, and all linked websites under the control of the agency, is under review and content may change.
- Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment - TRACE is an in-situ field warming experiment located in the eastern part of Puerto Rico, in the Luquillo Experimental Forest; it is currently the only experiment in the world studying the interactive processes between climate change and hurricane disturbance on tropical forests, particularly effects on carbon and nutrient cycling. The warming experiment officially started on September 28, 2016 with a full year 4 degrees C warming above ambient temperatures, which was interrupted due to the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. Warming was reestablished September 2018 after a year of reconstruction and adaptation. We are currently in our 6th consecutive year of warming.
IITF Investigators
Last updated June 5, 2025