Treesearch

Knowledge of the lifespans of wild birds is of both aesthetic interest and scientific importance. The accumulation of such knowledge can be accomplished almost solely through the bird banding process. Clapp et al. 11982,1983), Klimkiewicz et al. 11983), and Klimkiewicz and Futcher (1987) have recently summarized longevity records for North American birds through a survey of the Bird Banding Laboratory's records.

Based on more than 2000 total captures of 40 species of birds in 14 avian families, resulting from 15 yr of banding at a single net line in southwestern Puerto Rico, body mass and wing length measurements of 246 individuals of 25 species of birds that were captured and recaptured 612 times were used to show that: (1) Among and within different individuals, temporal variation in selected avian morphological characters is minimal when measurements are taken at the same time of year. (2) Measuring instruments widely used in the field are precise. (3) Sampling techniques are comparable. (4)...

Ants of the tribe Attini (fungus grower) collect different organic materials that are used to grow a fungus. It was thought that the fungus mycelium was the only source of nutrition for these ants, but Quinlan and Cherrett found that Atta cephalotes (L.) squeezes oils from fresh leaves and uses them as food. These oils supplement the fungus material eaten by this species. Members of the genus Atta are considered pests in some agricultural crops, pasture land, and forest seedling plantations. There are no Atta ants in Puerto Rico and adjacent islands, but four species of the attine tribe...

Plantation growth of mahogany (Swietenia spp.) and teak (Tectona grandis) and the performance of teak and Spanish cedar (Cedrela spp.) provenances located in subtropical dry and moist life zones. are summarized for St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Hybrid mahogany (S. macrophylla x S. mahagoni) from St. Croix had the best form and growth rate of all tree species tested. The surviving five provenances showed 39 and 59 percent survival at 16 years in Estate Thomas and Hams Bluff, respectively. Growth rates for the Belize provenance at Estate Thomas and the Mexican provenance at Hams Bluff were...

The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) was first reported in the Greater Caribbean Basin from Old Providence Island in 1933. It was not reported again from the region until 1944, when an individual was sighted in Aruba, Southern Netherlands Antilles. Within 4 years, the species was reported in Puerto Rico and Jamaica more than 800 km north of Aruba in the Greater Antilles. By 1957, Cattle Egrets were successfully nesting in nearby Cuba and St. Croix. Today, the species is known from more than 50 major islands throughout the Caribbean Basin. Cattle Egrets show strong dispersal tendencies and...

The knowledge of the ways in which insects disperse is important in decisions concerning their control. The dispersal of insects aided by the wind cannot be regarded as accidental and occasional but as an adaptive feature of the phylum (Johnson and Bowden 1973). Due to its location, Puerto Rico is exposed to cyclone winds that can affect the colonization and abundance of insects. In this work I present an overview of tropical cyclones on insect dispersal, the recorded arrival of insects during cyclone events, and the effects of tropical cyclones on insect abundance in Puerto Rico.

Aspects of the Cattle Egret's reproductive ecology and habitat use in an insular environment were studied on Montserrat, West Indies. Average size of 290 nests (17.9 cm) was smaller than sizes reported in the literature and was attributed to a paucity of available nesting materials. We measured 330 eggs to determine: egg volume (24,117.04 mm3), fresh egg weight (24.4 g), egg weight loss during incubation (2.9 g), pipping egg ("star pips" only) weight (21.5 g), egg length (45.56 mm), egg breadth (32.22 mm), and a speciesspecific egg weight constant Kw (= 0.506) (where Kw is fresh egg weight...