| LUQ Research Categories |
Project Title |
Project Description or Abstract | Investigators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetation dynamics | Phenology |
Flowering phenology was added to LUQ site monitoring program after the occurrence of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which provided an immediate test of the monitoring program developed under the initial proposal. Seasonal rhythms of flowering and fruiting are an important component of the community dynamics of tropical forest and can be a critical determinant of the dynamics of consumer populations. |
Jess Zimmerman |
| Vegetation dynamics | Pre Hurricane Cecropia Survey |
The goal of this project was to locate and characterize the sites where Cecropia schreberiana saplings and seedlings occur. I made a one-time survey of about 35 ha of tabonuco forest near El Verde Research Station, in 1989 before Hurricane Hugo. What little Cecropia regeneration I found was in tree fall gaps, or in open areas along streams. |
Nicholas Brokaw |
| Vegetation dynamics, phenology, forest structure | Pre-Hurricane Cecropia Survey |
The goal of this project was to locate and characterize the sites where Cecropia schreberiana saplings and seedlings occur. I made a one-time survey of about 35 ha of tabonuco forest near El Verde Research Station, in 1989 before Hurricane Hugo. What little Cecropia regeneration I found was in tree fall gaps, or in open areas along streams. |
Nicholas Brokaw |
| Environmental monitoring | Precipitation and Stream Chemistry |
Soil organic matter content (SOM) and C:N ratios of the litter (Weaver et al. 1973, Zou et al. 1995) and SOM (Silver et al. 1999) increase with elevation and are expected to influence stream chemistry (Aitkenhead & McDowell 2000). Linking stream chemistry to characteristics of watershed soils and vegetation (litter quality, soil C:N, soil C and N standing stocks) can be done within the timeframe of the current funding request. Rain, throughfall, and stream water are collected weekly at 18 LEF sites. These data cover the period from 1988 onwards. Earlier rain and stream water chemistry data are in the files from William McDowell. |
William H. McDowell |
| Research in a secondary forest localized in the kart zone in the municipality of Florida, Puerto Rico |
In 1999, a science teacher of the Juan Ponce de Leon High School in Florida-Puerto Rico, Elliot Lopez, and some students, establish a research area in a secondary forest localized in the kart zone in the municipality of Florida, with the assistance of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry. This zone has a high diversity of species. The research area (2000 m²), denominated Mogote Cuba, provides an idyllic area to develop special studies since it is the habitat of some species that are not common in other places like Coccoloba pubescens. Other trees species present are Dendropanax arboreus, Alchornea latifolia, Persea americana, Ceiba pentandra , Adira inermis, Calophyllum calaba, Zanthoxylum martinicense, Nectandra coriacea,Guarea trichiloides, Trichillia pallida and Pimenta racemosa. The Puertorrican giant green lizard (Anolis cuvieri) is one of the reptiles present in that forest. |
Elliot Lopez | |
| Research in Dry Scrub Forest Plot of Guánica State Forest |
The purpose of this investigation is to establish a database as part of a long-term ecological research at the dry scrub forest plot in the Guánica State Forest of Puerto Rico. This investigation started in 2009 as part of the Luquillo LTER Schoolyard Program. |
Glenda L. Almodovar Morales | |
| Research in Luquillo LTER Schoolyard project |
Outreach education coordinator |
Eda Melendez-Colom | |
| Research in the Naranjito Secondary Forest |
A secondary forest localized in the Anones Ward in a coffee plantation abandoned in the 1950’s in whose borderline is with the ground of the Francisco Morales High School of Naranjito. This private property, which consists of about 48 acres, belongs to Francisco Ortega Cosme. Today part of the farm is dedicated to the commercial cultivation of plantain. The good relations between the Ortega Cosme family with the high school and the community contribute to share part of the farm to develop diverse projects that deals about environmental health and conservation education. Between the special interest that represent the research area is vecinity of it to the school and to the urban zone of the town, the presence of a ravine and the fact that the dominant specie, Spathodea campanulata, is invasive specie. In 1999, two science professors of the Francisco Morales High School, Aurea Berríos Sáez and Hilca Nieves Ríos, with the assistance of the International Institute of Tropical Dorestry established two research areas (2500 m2 each one) in which the dominants species are Spathodea campanulata and Guarea guidonia. |
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| Research in the secondary forest La Torrecilla Barranquitas 1 |
During the years of 1986 and 1987, we selected a private area in the Forest “La Torrecilla”, located at the Barrio Barranquitas, for the development of a long-term study with the help of the International Institute for Tropical Forestry. |
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| Research in the secondary forest La Torrecilla, Barranquitas 2 |
During the years of 1986 and 1987, we selected a private area in the Forest “La Torrecilla”, located at the Barrio Barranquitas, for the development of a long-term study with the help of the International Institute for Tropical Forestry. Our study area is located at the Barrio Barrancas of Barranquitas at 3,093 feet above sea level. The area has been classified as a secondary forest in the past because it was used for agriculture since the XIX Century until 1940, to cultivate coffee. In our forest, one of our main water source originates: The Manatí River. The Forest is the lung which efficiently purifies our air. |
