A5086887822- Forest ecology and management
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications
- Forest Management and Policy
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Remote Sensing in Agriculture
- Plant and animal studies
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Coleoptera: Cerambycidae studies
- African Botany and Ecology Studies
- Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean
- Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Historical and socio-economic studies of Spain and related regions
- Oil Palm Production and Sustainability
- Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Plant Diversity and Evolution
- Plant and soil sciences
- Cocoa and Sweet Potato Agronomy
- Urban Heat Island Mitigation
- Agricultural and Food Sciences
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Silkworms and Sericulture Research
Southern Research Station
2014-2024
US Forest Service
2015-2023
Southern Research Institute
2017-2023
International Institute of Tropical Forestry
2016-2023
United States Department of Agriculture
2023
University of the West Indies System
2017
Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico
2008
University of Puerto Rico System
2000-2002
Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among regions, which may be higher other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high indicates that numerous conservation areas countries will needed to protect full diversity forests. Our results provide a scientific...
Abstract During the mid‐1900s, most of island Puerto Rico was deforested, but a shift in economy from agriculture to small industry beginning 1950s resulted abandonment agricultural lands and recovery secondary forest. This unique history provides an excellent opportunity study forest succession suggest strategies for tropical restoration. To determine pattern succession, we describe woody vegetation 71 abandoned pastures sites four regions Rico. The density, basal area, aboveground biomass,...
Satellite image-based mapping of tropical forests is vital to conservation planning. Standard methods for automated image classification, however, limit classification detail in complex landscapes. In this study, we test an approach Landsat interpretation on four islands the Lesser Antilles, including Grenada and St. Kitts, Nevis Eustatius, testing a more detailed than earlier work latter three islands. Secondly, estimate extents land cover protected forest by formation five ask how has...
Abstract Understanding the role of alien species in forest communities, and how native interact to shape composition structure contemporary forests, is critical importance invasion ecology natural resource management. We used vegetation data collected over a 20‐year period 341 permanent plots representing remnants closed‐canopy forests post‐agricultural secondary across Puerto Rico compare changes abundance woody with without aliens different types assess whether natives show divergence or...
Abstract Aim Seasonally dry tropical forest ( SDTF ) of the Caribbean Islands (primarily West Indies) is floristically distinct from Neotropical in Central and South America. We evaluate whether tree species composition was associated with climatic gradients or geographical distance. Turnover (dissimilarity) different islands among more distant sites would suggest communities structured by speciation dispersal limitations. A nested pattern be consistent a steep resource gradient. Correlation...
How does tree species composition vary in relation to geographical and environmental gradients a globally rare tropical/subtropical broadleaf dry forest community the Caribbean? We analyzed data from 153 Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) plots Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), along with 42 that we sampled Bahamian Archipelago (on Abaco Eleuthera Islands). FIA were collected using published protocols. In Archipelago, recorded terrain landscape variables, identified measured diameter of...
Remotely-sensed estimates of forest biomass are usually based on various measurements canopy height, area, volume or texture, as derived from LiDAR, radar fine spatial resolution imagery. These then calibrated to stand that primarily tree stem diameters. Although humid tropical seasonality can have low amplitudes compared with temperate regions, seasonal variations in growth-related factors like temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and day length affect both deciduousness...
Fine-resolution satellite imagery is needed for characterizing dry-season phenology in tropical forests since many are very spatially heterogeneous due to their diverse species and environmental background. However, fine-resolution imagery, such as Landsat, has a 16-day revisit cycle that makes it hard obtain high-quality vegetation index time series persistent clouds regions. To solve this challenge, study explored the feasibility of employing advanced technologies reconstructing Landsat...
We mapped native, endemic, and introduced (i.e., exotic) tree species counts, relative basal areas of functional groups, areas, forest biomass from inventory data, satellite imagery, environmental data for Puerto Rico the Virgin Islands. Imagery included time series Landsat composites Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based phenology. Environmental climate, land-cover, geology, topography, road distances. Large-scale deforestation subsequent regrowth are clear in...
Abstract Cyclonic storms, or hurricanes, are expected to intensify as ocean heat energy rises due climate change. Ecological theory suggests that tropical forest resistance hurricanes should increase with age and wood density. However, most data on hurricane effects forests come from a limited number of well‐studied long‐term monitoring sites, restricting our capacity evaluate the across broad environmental gradients. In this study, we assessed whether aridity mediate Irma Maria in Puerto...
Uncertainties about controls on tree mortality make forest responses to land-use and climate change difficult predict. We tracked biomass of functional groups in tropical inventories across Puerto Rico the U.S. Virgin Islands, with random forests we ranked 86 potential predictors small survival (young or mature stems 2.5–12.6 cm diameter at breast height). Forests span dry cloud forests, range age, geology past land use experienced severe drought storms. When excluding species as a...
Height-diameter relationship models, denoted as H-D have important applications in sustainable forest management which include studying the vertical structure of a stand, understanding habitat heterogeneity for wildlife niches, analyzing growth rate pattern making decisions regarding silvicultural treatments. Compared to monocultures, characterizing allometric relationships uneven-aged, mixed-species forests, especially tropical is more challenging and has historically received less...
Abstract Understanding the heterogeneity of biomass accumulation in second‐growth tropical forests following land use abandonment is important for informing ecosystem carbon models and forest restoration efforts. There an urgent need a broad sample to enhance our knowledge human‐dominated landscapes, especially older forests. Puerto Rico has predominantly forests, ranging age from approximately 25 more than 80 years. We used island‐wide airborne lidar NASA Goddard Lidar, Hyperspectral,...
The development of appropriate strategies towards the sustainable management tropical second-growth forests is essential for human well-being and climate change mitigation. well-documented process forest recovery in Puerto Rico offers a unique opportunity to evaluate potential forestry. Here, we combined 10 years inventory data with ethnobotanical information determine trends cover, stand structure, timber volume, as well suitability useful tree species non-timber products. We observed...