Impacts of Hurricane Hugo on the Dwarf Cloud Forest of Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains

Abstract

Stratified sampling by topography in the dwarf cloud forest of the Luquillo Experimental Forest indicated that many common tree species showed topographic preferences, favoring either ravines or slopes and ridges. Delayed post-hurricane mortality (≥1.3 and ≤6.3 yrs) on permanent plots established after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989 reduced the number of stems on Pico del Este by 21%, most notably impacting the smallest dbh and height classes in ridges. Mortality varied by species, with the palm Prestoea montana (R. Grah.) Nichols showing the best survival and the tree Clusia closoides (Griseb.) D’Arcy the poorest. Regressions of epiphytic biomass expressed as a function of bole dbh or crown area did not correlate as well in post-hurricane conditions as they did in pre-hurricanes conditions. Although total litterfall was virtually the same, the leafy fraction declined and the woody fraction increased. Tree mortality decreased aboveground biomass after the storm. Total aboveground net primary productivity sampled from 1.3 to 2.3 yrs after Hugo was 20% greater than before the storm when 5-yr estimate of average coarse debris (from 1.3 to 6.3 years post-hurricane) was added.

Citation

Weaver, P.L. 1999. Impacts of Hurricane Hugo on the Dwarf Cloud Forest of Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains. Caribbean Journal of Science. 35(1-2): 101-111.