Tropical storms and ecological research in the Luquillo Experimental Forest: A bibliography
| Authors: | Tania Lopez-Marrero, Tamara Heartsill Scalley |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Type: | Miscellaneous Publication |
| Station: | International Institute of Tropical Forestry |
| Source: | SRS |
Abstract
Tropical storms cause a range of short-, medium-, and long-term effects on forest ecosystems; they influence forest structure, dynamics, composition, and diversity of biota, as well as the abiotic component that supports ecosystem processes and functions. Storms also affect the provision of ecosystem services that are vital to sustain life and necessary to support ecosystem functions. The passage of atmospheric systems also provides opportunities to conduct studies allowing knowledge production, thus broadening understanding of these disturbances on forest ecosystems.
Tropical storms over and near the Luquillo Experimental Forest (also known as El Yunque National Forest, hereinafter LEF) and their effects on forest ecosystems have been an important research focus. This is particularly true for the last three decades, after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 (see section Studies of tropical storms and forests in the Luquillo Experimental Forest: An overview). In this publication, we provide a bibliography of 203 peer-reviewed articles identified through a systematic literature review regarding ecological research conducted in the LEF on storms and forests (see section About the development of the bibliography). Through this bibliography, the reader will be acquainted with the research conducted in the LEF. While we are aware the bibliographic list does not contain all published storm and forest studies in the LEF, it does provide a broad resource for researchers, managers, and practitioners to support current and future research and management practices. Next, we provide an overview of the research conducted based on the 203 articles that constitute this bibliography