Understanding Secondary Forest Dynamics at Multiple Spatial Scales
The extent of secondary tropical forest has been estimated at 850 million ha. Using a multi-disciplinary, quantitative approach, our research aims to forecast the dynamics of secondary forests at multiple spatial scales in the island of Puerto Rico. The program focuses explicitly on understanding the drivers of forest recovery at a landscape-scale together with stand dynamic of second-growth forests.
Socioeconomic changes in the island during the past 50 years have resulted in dramatic and dynamic landscape transformations. Widespread abandonment of agriculture has led to expansion of secondary forest while the movement of people to urban centers has resulted in unregulated urban sprawl. This history makes Puerto Rico an ideal system in which to explore the dynamics of secondary tropical forests.
I. Compound effects of natural and human disturbances on stand dynamics of secondary forests.
Secondary forests in Puerto Rico are also subjected to periodic hurricane disturbance which have striking efffects on forest structure, composition, and dynamics.
We used data from censuses of the 16-ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot in Puerto Rico, which currently has distinct tree communities resulting from previous land use history, together with a reconstruction of historical wind damage to the forest to parameterize a forest simulator, SORTIE.
This simulator allows us to explore how variation in human land use interacts with hurricane severity and frequency to affect tree community dynamics.
II. Dynamics of forest recovery at the landscape.
Using historical land cover change data we are quantifying the contribution of social, physical, and biological drivers on probability of transition to forest at the landscape scale. We are also relying on a series of permanent forest plots distributed throughout the island to understand the effects of legacies of land use and natural disturbance on the rate and trajectiry of succession.
The extent of secondary tropical forest has been estimated at 850 million ha. Using a multi-disciplinary, quantitative approach, our research aims to forecast the dynamics of secondary forests at multiple spatial scales in the island of Puerto Rico. The program focuses explicitly on understanding the drivers of forest recovery at a landscape-scale together with stand dynamic of second-growth forests.
Socioeconomic changes in the island during the past 50 years have resulted in dramatic and dynamic landscape transformations. Widespread abandonment of agriculture has led to expansion of secondary forest while the movement of people to urban centers has resulted in unregulated urban sprawl. This history makes Puerto Rico an ideal system in which to explore the dynamics of secondary tropical forests.
Secondary forests in Puerto Rico are also subjected to periodic hurricane disturbance which have striking efffects on forest structure, composition, and dynamics.
We used data from censuses of the 16-ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot in Puerto Rico, which currently has distinct tree communities resulting from previous land use history, together with a reconstruction of historical wind damage to the forest to parameterize a forest simulator, SORTIE.
This simulator allows us to explore how variation in human land use interacts with hurricane severity and frequency to affect tree community dynamics.
Using historical land cover change data we are quantifying the contribution of social, physical, and biological drivers on probability of transition to forest at the landscape scale. We are also relying on a series of permanent forest plots distributed throughout the island to understand the effects of legacies of land use and natural disturbance on the rate and trajectiry of succession.
