Treesearch

People’s knowledge of birds and the opinions and perceptions about specific issues related to the conservation of birds were quantified in rural and urban communities in northeastern Puerto Rico. Data were collected using questionnaires in interviews with 131 citizens haphazardly selected within the study site. Our results indicate that urban residents had a significantly higher level of education and were more knowledgeable about the bird species in their neighborhoods than residents of rural communities. However, the knowledge of exotic bird species was similar between residents of both...

Low stature woody vegetation of the south-west coast of Puerto Rico grows on a rocky calcareous substrate where plants can only root in holes, cracks, and crevices accumulating water and sediments that allow seed germination and seedling development. Being in a coastal location these communities are influenced by steady onshore winds, high solar radiation, and salt spray. We studied dwarfed forest communities located at the southern limit of the Gua´nica State Forest, Puerto Rico, that have a well known floristic composition, but with little information on their organization and heterogenei...

Eleven groups of three plots stratified by aspect (windward vs. leeward) and topography (ridge, slope, and ravine) and varying in elevation from 880 to about 1,000 metres were used to sample forest structure and species composition within the dwarf forest of the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Stem density to windward was significantly greater on slopes, andf or all topographies combined, than to leeward. The leeward canopy height was significantly greater on slopes, and for all topographies combined, than to windward. In addition, combined mean density declined from ridge through slope...

Six groups of three plots stratified by aspect and topography and varying in elevation were used to sample forest structure and tree species composition within the lower montane rain forest (tabonuco forest) of the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) in Puerto Rico. Stem density, tree height, and total above ground biomass varied by site. Significant differences in canopy height were evident between leeward and windward sites, and declined from ridge to slope to ravine for all sites combined. Total aboveground biomass was significantly greater on ridges than in ravines. Prestoea montana (R....

[1] To test whether plant species influence greenhouse gas production in diverse ecosystems, we measured wet season soil CO2 and N2O fluxes close to 300 large (>35 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH)) trees of 15 species at three clay‐rich forest sites in central Amazonia. We found that soil CO2 fluxes were 38% higher near large trees than at control sites >10 m away from any tree (P < 0.0001). After adjusting for large tree presence, a multiple linear regression of soil temperature, bulk density, and liana DBH explained 19% of remaining CO2 flux variability. Soil N2O fluxes adjacent to...

Timber extraction continues to add to vast cutover tropical forests. They are unattractive economically because of the loss of merchantable timber and the long delay foreseen for recovery. Despite this, wood in cutover tropical forests is in line to become more marketable as demand continues and old-growth forests become less accessible. In a cutover forest in Puerto Rico a well formed immature trees of timber species was found. They were ubiquitous, growing throughout the foothills of a mountain on both convex and concave land surfaces, on steep as well as low slopes, and exposed to...