Treesearch

While herbaceous species and vines constitute a minor portion of the biomass in tropical closed forest ecosystems, they account for a substantial portion of the diversity of these ecosystems and become more conspicuous after natural disturbances. This study describes the changes in abundance and diversity of the herbs and vines during 5 years following Hurricane Hugo at the Bisley Experimental Watersheds, Puerto Rico. The cover of herbs, ferns, and vine species was sampled within a 5-m2 area in 25 randomly chosen circular permanent plots within the 13 ha of these watersheds. Sampling was...

The 178-hectarea(ha) northeastern tip of Puerto Rico, Which is known locally as "Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve", is managed by the Puerto Rican Conservation Trust to protect the area's scenic beauty and to provide enviromental education and research opportunities to the island's resident and visitors

Fruit availability on 25 plant species, consumed or potentially consumed by the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata), was studied to document the seasonal and annual variation in fruit production in the Luquillo Mountains. In the 33 months before Hurricane Hugo, an annual cycle in the number of species with ripe fruit was evident, with a peak in October-February and a trough during June-July. About half the plant species showed this annual fruiting cycle. Irregular noncyclic fruiting was found in the other half, and varied among species in annual duration. Fruit production reached its...

Two Elevations-above 800m and above 300m- define the montane forests of the caribbean islands. Of the 36 islands considered, 27 have mountains above 300m and 14, above 800m. of the 233,000 km2 of the island, at least 118,000 km2 are above 300m m, and 60,000 km2 are above 800 m.

We studied avian resource use in a native West Indian pine (Pinus occidentalis) forest in the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic during the nonbreeding season. The forest is characterized by a fairly open pine canopy and a dense mixed-broadleaf and pine understory. We used a principal components analysis of 23 foraging characters for 23 bird species, including foraging height, the proportional use of 5 different foraging methods, 3 horizontal positions and foliage densities, and 11 foraging substrates. Five principal components accounted for 74 percent of the total variance of...

Long-tcrm smdif's are needed to undersrand rhc dynamics of tropical forests, particularly those subject to pcriodic disturbances such as hurricanes. We studied a flood plain Prestoea montana palm forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerro Rico over a 15-yr period (1980-1995), which included the passage of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. The passage of the hurricane caused the dominant species to become more dominant and created low instamaneous rree morrality (1 o/o of stems) and reductions in tree biomass (-16 Mg/ha/yr) and density, although not in basal area. Five years after the...

Responding to near total deforestation in Puerto Rico , in the 1920's the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, began to produce tree seedlings, reforest degraded lands, establish planting trials, and conduct silvicultural research. In 75 years an extensive body of knowledge has been accumulated. Advances in tree-seed handling , nursery practice, plantation establishment , and plantation management made in Puerto Rico are summarized. Tree species recommended by local research and experience for planting in wildland, farm, and urban forestry are detailed in this report. Site...

This paper is a brief summary of the natural history and importance of the insects of Puerto Rico. We briefly discuss the orders of insects present in Puerto Rico and some of their families. Where possible, we have tried to avoid technical terms for better comprehension of a general audience. We present the observations or characteristics of insects that humans admire. Our intent is that this paper serve as an introduction for students, teachers and those with interest in insects and maybe motiviate some of them to dedicate themselves to the study of this group of animals that is so...

Although Camponotus ustus Forel, originally described from St. Thomas, now a part of the American Virgina Islands, has been long considered common in Puerto Rico, we found that such specimens are misidentified and actually represent two distinct species, both previously undescribed. These are described herein as C. kaura and C. taino. Based on the types and additional material from Mona Island, we have redescribed C. ustus. The following new synonymy is proposed: C. ustus = C. ulysses Forel = C. furnissi Wheeler and Mann = C. sublautus Wheeler and Mann = C. depolitus Wheeler = C. larvigerus...