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Abstract
We studied changes that occurred between 1980 and 2000 in forest floor biomass (necromass+ biomass of herbaceous plants), nutrient stocks, and plant composition of a Prestoea montana floodplain forest. The forest was located in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Several storms and hurricanes passed near the study site during that period, the most severe being hurricane Hugo in 1989, and Georges in 1998. Hugo opened the canopy and increased the nutrient and biomass stocks of the forest floor. Six years after the passage of Hugo and two years after Georges, the forest floor necromass was at prehurricane (1980) levels. By October 2000, fine litter mass and nutrient stocks were below 1980 and 1990 levels (respectively). However, the distribution of biomass and nutrients on the forest floor in 2000 was different from pre-Hugo conditions due to the growth of herbaceous vegetation that included grasses and ferns that were not present in 1980. These plants concentrated nutrients in disproportion to their biomass and had leaves with low C/N. Attention to change in species composition on the forest floor as well as to necromass and nutrient distribution in fine litter, improves understanding of the recovery of the forest floor from disturbance.3D(none)%3.
Citation
LUGO ARIEL E.; AND FRANGI, JORGE L. 2003. Changes in necromass and nutrients on the forest floor of a palm floodplain forest in the Luquillo mountains of Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 39, No. 3, 265-272,
