Secondary Subtropical Dry Forest at the La Tinaja Tract of the Cartagena Lagoon National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico.

Abstract

A vegetation survey using 109 circular plots (3.4% sample) of the recently acquired 110-ha La Tinaja tract in the Cartagena Lagoon Wildlife Refuge disclosed 103 dicotyledonous tree species. Another 58 tree species were tallied within the tract but outside of the plots. The cactus, Pilosocereus royenii (L.) Byles & Rowley, occurring on 44% of the plots, had the greatest number of stems. Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) DeWit had the greatest number of individual trees. The 10 most common tree species accounted for nearly 60% of the stems, and the 43 least common species, each with .5 individuals, for only 2.2% of the stems. Five species accounted for 58.5% of the total basal area, and 19 species were represented by a single plant. Seven endemic, 20 exotic, and three endangered species were tallied. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA version 4, using a direct gradient analysis of species densities by plot) showed that land use history was the most important factor in explaining species�f distribution. Slope and distance to drainages also added significantly to the explained variability. Aerial photos from 1998 show that the current ground cover is about 50% shrubs, 43% open canopy forest, and 7% grass cover.

Citation

WEAVER, PETER L.; CHINEA, J. DANILO. 2003. Secondary Subtropical Dry Forest at the La Tinaja Tract of the Cartagena Lagoon National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 39, No. 3, 273-285,