Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts

ittle is known about ecosystem-level responses to multiple, climatic disturbance events. In the subtropical forests of Puerto Rico, the major natural disturbances are hurricanes and droughts. We tested the ecosystem-level effects of these disturbances in sites with different land use histories. From 1989 to 1992, data were collected to determine the effects of Hurricane Hugo and two droughts on litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates in three topographic locations (stream, riparian, upslope) within two watersheds. From 1994 to 1998, we added a third watershed and an experiment in which coarse-wood levels were manipulated to simulate hurricane inputs. Data were collected on tree and palm growth rates, litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates. From 1994 to 1998, four hurricanes and three droughts were recorded. Measured parameters had unique responses and recovery rates to hurricanes and droughts. Litterfall inputs returned to long-term mean rates within one month following droughts and small-to-moderate hurricanes but required five years to recover after an intense hurricane. In contrast, fine-root biomass recovered seven months after an intense hurricane but failed to recover after five years following a severe drought.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Beard, Karen H., Vogt, Kristiina A. autor/a, Vogt, Daniel J. autor/a, Scatena, Frederick N. autor/a, Covich, Alan P. autor/a
Format: Texto biblioteca
Language:eng
Subjects:Bosques tropicales, Huracán Hugo, 1989, Sequía, Restauración ecológica, Disturbio ecológico, Huracanes, Desastres naturales,
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id KOHA-OAI-ECOSUR:40962
record_format koha
institution ECOSUR
collection Koha
country México
countrycode MX
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode cat-ecosur
tag biblioteca
region America del Norte
libraryname Sistema de Información Bibliotecario de ECOSUR (SIBE)
language eng
topic Bosques tropicales
Huracán Hugo, 1989
Sequía
Restauración ecológica
Disturbio ecológico
Huracanes
Desastres naturales
Bosques tropicales
Huracán Hugo, 1989
Sequía
Restauración ecológica
Disturbio ecológico
Huracanes
Desastres naturales
spellingShingle Bosques tropicales
Huracán Hugo, 1989
Sequía
Restauración ecológica
Disturbio ecológico
Huracanes
Desastres naturales
Bosques tropicales
Huracán Hugo, 1989
Sequía
Restauración ecológica
Disturbio ecológico
Huracanes
Desastres naturales
Beard, Karen H.
Vogt, Kristiina A. autor/a
Vogt, Daniel J. autor/a
Scatena, Frederick N. autor/a
Covich, Alan P. autor/a
Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
description ittle is known about ecosystem-level responses to multiple, climatic disturbance events. In the subtropical forests of Puerto Rico, the major natural disturbances are hurricanes and droughts. We tested the ecosystem-level effects of these disturbances in sites with different land use histories. From 1989 to 1992, data were collected to determine the effects of Hurricane Hugo and two droughts on litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates in three topographic locations (stream, riparian, upslope) within two watersheds. From 1994 to 1998, we added a third watershed and an experiment in which coarse-wood levels were manipulated to simulate hurricane inputs. Data were collected on tree and palm growth rates, litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates. From 1994 to 1998, four hurricanes and three droughts were recorded. Measured parameters had unique responses and recovery rates to hurricanes and droughts. Litterfall inputs returned to long-term mean rates within one month following droughts and small-to-moderate hurricanes but required five years to recover after an intense hurricane. In contrast, fine-root biomass recovered seven months after an intense hurricane but failed to recover after five years following a severe drought.
format Texto
topic_facet Bosques tropicales
Huracán Hugo, 1989
Sequía
Restauración ecológica
Disturbio ecológico
Huracanes
Desastres naturales
author Beard, Karen H.
Vogt, Kristiina A. autor/a
Vogt, Daniel J. autor/a
Scatena, Frederick N. autor/a
Covich, Alan P. autor/a
author_facet Beard, Karen H.
Vogt, Kristiina A. autor/a
Vogt, Daniel J. autor/a
Scatena, Frederick N. autor/a
Covich, Alan P. autor/a
author_sort Beard, Karen H.
title Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
title_short Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
title_full Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
title_fullStr Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
title_full_unstemmed Structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
title_sort structural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts
work_keys_str_mv AT beardkarenh structuralandfunctionalresponsesofasubtropicalforestto10yearsofhurricanesanddroughts
AT vogtkristiinaaautora structuralandfunctionalresponsesofasubtropicalforestto10yearsofhurricanesanddroughts
AT vogtdanieljautora structuralandfunctionalresponsesofasubtropicalforestto10yearsofhurricanesanddroughts
AT scatenafredericknautora structuralandfunctionalresponsesofasubtropicalforestto10yearsofhurricanesanddroughts
AT covichalanpautora structuralandfunctionalresponsesofasubtropicalforestto10yearsofhurricanesanddroughts
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spelling KOHA-OAI-ECOSUR:409622021-01-14T15:07:14ZStructural and functional responses of a subtropical forest to 10 years of hurricanes and droughts Beard, Karen H. Vogt, Kristiina A. autor/a Vogt, Daniel J. autor/a Scatena, Frederick N. autor/a Covich, Alan P. autor/a textengittle is known about ecosystem-level responses to multiple, climatic disturbance events. In the subtropical forests of Puerto Rico, the major natural disturbances are hurricanes and droughts. We tested the ecosystem-level effects of these disturbances in sites with different land use histories. From 1989 to 1992, data were collected to determine the effects of Hurricane Hugo and two droughts on litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates in three topographic locations (stream, riparian, upslope) within two watersheds. From 1994 to 1998, we added a third watershed and an experiment in which coarse-wood levels were manipulated to simulate hurricane inputs. Data were collected on tree and palm growth rates, litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates. From 1994 to 1998, four hurricanes and three droughts were recorded. Measured parameters had unique responses and recovery rates to hurricanes and droughts. Litterfall inputs returned to long-term mean rates within one month following droughts and small-to-moderate hurricanes but required five years to recover after an intense hurricane. In contrast, fine-root biomass recovered seven months after an intense hurricane but failed to recover after five years following a severe drought.Despite the dramatic effects of these weather events on some ecosystem parameters, we found that aboveground measures of tree and palm growth were more affected by preexisting site conditions (e.g., nitrogen availability due to past land use activities) than hurricanes or droughts. The addition of coarse woody debris increased tree and palm growth, fine-root biomass, and litter production; however, in the case of tree and palm growth, this effect was least measurable in the sites with the highest productivity. We found that decomposition rates were more controlled by litter quality than weather conditions. In conclusion, we found that certain ecosystem structures (e.g., canopy structure and fine-root biomass) generally recovered more slowly from disturbance events than certain ecosystem processes (e.g., plant growth rates, decomposition rates). We also found that past land use activities and disturbance legacies were important in determining the responses and recovery rates of the ecosystem to disturbance.ittle is known about ecosystem-level responses to multiple, climatic disturbance events. In the subtropical forests of Puerto Rico, the major natural disturbances are hurricanes and droughts. We tested the ecosystem-level effects of these disturbances in sites with different land use histories. From 1989 to 1992, data were collected to determine the effects of Hurricane Hugo and two droughts on litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates in three topographic locations (stream, riparian, upslope) within two watersheds. From 1994 to 1998, we added a third watershed and an experiment in which coarse-wood levels were manipulated to simulate hurricane inputs. Data were collected on tree and palm growth rates, litterfall inputs, fine-root biomass, and decomposition rates. From 1994 to 1998, four hurricanes and three droughts were recorded. Measured parameters had unique responses and recovery rates to hurricanes and droughts. Litterfall inputs returned to long-term mean rates within one month following droughts and small-to-moderate hurricanes but required five years to recover after an intense hurricane. In contrast, fine-root biomass recovered seven months after an intense hurricane but failed to recover after five years following a severe drought.Despite the dramatic effects of these weather events on some ecosystem parameters, we found that aboveground measures of tree and palm growth were more affected by preexisting site conditions (e.g., nitrogen availability due to past land use activities) than hurricanes or droughts. The addition of coarse woody debris increased tree and palm growth, fine-root biomass, and litter production; however, in the case of tree and palm growth, this effect was least measurable in the sites with the highest productivity. We found that decomposition rates were more controlled by litter quality than weather conditions. In conclusion, we found that certain ecosystem structures (e.g., canopy structure and fine-root biomass) generally recovered more slowly from disturbance events than certain ecosystem processes (e.g., plant growth rates, decomposition rates). We also found that past land use activities and disturbance legacies were important in determining the responses and recovery rates of the ecosystem to disturbance.Bosques tropicalesHuracán Hugo, 1989SequíaRestauración ecológicaDisturbio ecológicoHuracanesDesastres naturalesEcological Monographs