Mahogany species from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America and the hybrid of small-l... more Mahogany species from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America and the hybrid of small-leaf and big-leaf mahogany were planted on contrasting soils under different climates in Puerto Rico. Species performance differed markedly according to water availability. Big-leaf mahogany and the hybrid survived and grew at higher rates in the wetter northeastern sites, and small-leaf mahogany was more successful in the drier southwestern sites. We tested the hypothesis that this pattern results from differences in ...
OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information), 2019
This data package is a compilation of studies and raw datasets on root traits including root biom... more This data package is a compilation of studies and raw datasets on root traits including root biomass, root nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations organized by different root diameters, species, soil depth, and forest types in Puerto Rico. The attached zip file contains a Word document that describes metadata including the methods, the data sources and publications used in the synthesis, and information about the content of included CSV data files. Separate KMZ and csv files are attached with the collection locations.
ELVIRA CUEVAS 1., SANDRA BROWN e and ARIEL E. LUGO 1 1 Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Fores... more ELVIRA CUEVAS 1., SANDRA BROWN e and ARIEL E. LUGO 1 1 Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Call Box 25000 Rio Piedras, PR 00928-2500 and 2 Department of Forestry, University of Illinois, 110 Mumford ...
Terra firme forests are those that by definition are not permanently or seasonally flooded (terra... more Terra firme forests are those that by definition are not permanently or seasonally flooded (terra firme meaning “firm terrain”). This type of forest encompasses the Amazon and Orinoco basins, stretching from the lower slopes of the Andes, east to the Guianas, and south to about 15°S in western Brazil and northern Bolivia (Richards 1996). Structural and compositional variability in these forests in the Amazon basin is very wide as a result of climate differences and geomorphological position. The region is not climatically uniform; the central and much of the southern parts have less and more seasonal rainfall than the eastern and western parts (Walsh 1996). These differences have direct and indirect ecological significance, as phenology and biological processes related to nutrient availability will be strongly influenced by both factors (Cuevas and Medina 1986, 1988, 1990, Medina and Cuevas 1989). Periods of two or more consecutive dry days are ecologically significant in a humid area such as San Carlos de Río Negro, in the northern part of the Amazon, because of low water retention capacity in the widespread sandy soils. In lower geomorphological positions, dry spells of 5-10 days may result in fluctuations of the water table from 0.4-1.0 m (Herrera 1977, Bongers et al. 1985). In areas with a more strongly seasonal climate, roots have been found extending to 18 m depth (Nepstad et al. 1995). This may explain the presence of evergreen forest in the seasonally dry eastern Amazon. Structure and physiognomy of terra firme forests is very similar throughout Amazonia, but floristically it is quite variable due to different compositions in the subbasins of the Amazon’s major tributaries. These subbasins are located within geochemical regions that can be differentiated based on the physicochemical properties of drainage waters (Sioli 1975, Fittkau 1971, Fittkau et al. 1975). Blackwater rivers, such as the Río Negro, drain mostly sandy podsolized soils low in most essential nutrients for plant growth. They are characterized by a high content of humic acids, which remain dissolved because of the predominant low concentrations of polyvalent cations, mainly Ca2+ and Mg2+.
Abstract Ecological studies strive to identify factors that explain patterns of species distribut... more Abstract Ecological studies strive to identify factors that explain patterns of species distribution and abundance. In lizards, competition and predation are major forces influencing distribution a...
This article reviews literature and summarizes experiments to investigate the extent to which pro... more This article reviews literature and summarizes experiments to investigate the extent to which productivity of tropical montane rain forests is constrained by low nutrient supply. On any one mountain, with increase in altitude foliar N decreases, and P and K usually decrease, but Ca and Mg show no consistent trend. However for a wide range of sites N, P, K, Mg, and Ca show no trends. Litterfall contents of N and P and often K, Ca, and Mg are lower in montane forests than in lowland forests, mainly because of reduced litterfall mass, but N ...
Mahogany species from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America and the hybrid of small-l... more Mahogany species from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America and the hybrid of small-leaf and big-leaf mahogany were planted on contrasting soils under different climates in Puerto Rico. Species performance differed markedly according to water availability. Big-leaf mahogany and the hybrid survived and grew at higher rates in the wetter northeastern sites, and small-leaf mahogany was more successful in the drier southwestern sites. We tested the hypothesis that this pattern results from differences in ...
OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information), 2019
This data package is a compilation of studies and raw datasets on root traits including root biom... more This data package is a compilation of studies and raw datasets on root traits including root biomass, root nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations organized by different root diameters, species, soil depth, and forest types in Puerto Rico. The attached zip file contains a Word document that describes metadata including the methods, the data sources and publications used in the synthesis, and information about the content of included CSV data files. Separate KMZ and csv files are attached with the collection locations.
ELVIRA CUEVAS 1., SANDRA BROWN e and ARIEL E. LUGO 1 1 Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Fores... more ELVIRA CUEVAS 1., SANDRA BROWN e and ARIEL E. LUGO 1 1 Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Call Box 25000 Rio Piedras, PR 00928-2500 and 2 Department of Forestry, University of Illinois, 110 Mumford ...
Terra firme forests are those that by definition are not permanently or seasonally flooded (terra... more Terra firme forests are those that by definition are not permanently or seasonally flooded (terra firme meaning “firm terrain”). This type of forest encompasses the Amazon and Orinoco basins, stretching from the lower slopes of the Andes, east to the Guianas, and south to about 15°S in western Brazil and northern Bolivia (Richards 1996). Structural and compositional variability in these forests in the Amazon basin is very wide as a result of climate differences and geomorphological position. The region is not climatically uniform; the central and much of the southern parts have less and more seasonal rainfall than the eastern and western parts (Walsh 1996). These differences have direct and indirect ecological significance, as phenology and biological processes related to nutrient availability will be strongly influenced by both factors (Cuevas and Medina 1986, 1988, 1990, Medina and Cuevas 1989). Periods of two or more consecutive dry days are ecologically significant in a humid area such as San Carlos de Río Negro, in the northern part of the Amazon, because of low water retention capacity in the widespread sandy soils. In lower geomorphological positions, dry spells of 5-10 days may result in fluctuations of the water table from 0.4-1.0 m (Herrera 1977, Bongers et al. 1985). In areas with a more strongly seasonal climate, roots have been found extending to 18 m depth (Nepstad et al. 1995). This may explain the presence of evergreen forest in the seasonally dry eastern Amazon. Structure and physiognomy of terra firme forests is very similar throughout Amazonia, but floristically it is quite variable due to different compositions in the subbasins of the Amazon’s major tributaries. These subbasins are located within geochemical regions that can be differentiated based on the physicochemical properties of drainage waters (Sioli 1975, Fittkau 1971, Fittkau et al. 1975). Blackwater rivers, such as the Río Negro, drain mostly sandy podsolized soils low in most essential nutrients for plant growth. They are characterized by a high content of humic acids, which remain dissolved because of the predominant low concentrations of polyvalent cations, mainly Ca2+ and Mg2+.
Abstract Ecological studies strive to identify factors that explain patterns of species distribut... more Abstract Ecological studies strive to identify factors that explain patterns of species distribution and abundance. In lizards, competition and predation are major forces influencing distribution a...
This article reviews literature and summarizes experiments to investigate the extent to which pro... more This article reviews literature and summarizes experiments to investigate the extent to which productivity of tropical montane rain forests is constrained by low nutrient supply. On any one mountain, with increase in altitude foliar N decreases, and P and K usually decrease, but Ca and Mg show no consistent trend. However for a wide range of sites N, P, K, Mg, and Ca show no trends. Litterfall contents of N and P and often K, Ca, and Mg are lower in montane forests than in lowland forests, mainly because of reduced litterfall mass, but N ...
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