Fine Litterfall and Related Nutrient Inputs Resulting From Hurricane Hugo in Subtropical Wet and Lower Montane Rain Forests of Puerto Rico

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Wiley, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Biotropica ABSTRACT On 18 September 1989 Hurricane Hugo defoliated large forested areas of northeastern Puerto Rico. In two severely damaged subtropical wet forest sites, a mean of 1006-1083 g/m2, or 419-451 times the mean daily input of fine litter (leaves, small wood, and miscellaneous debris) was deposited on the forest floor. An additional 928 g/m2 of litter was suspended above the ground. A lower montane rain forest site received 682 times the mean daily fine

Responses of Soil Labile Organic Carbon to a Simulated Hurricane Disturbance in a Tropical Wet Forest

“…It was demonstrated that fresh debris decayed faster than senesced litter, and fresh debris released more N, P, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and S than senesced litter [8,61]. These additional materials with high decomposition rates elevate the decomposition rate of the total soil carbon and non-hydrolyzable carbon at the surface soil layer [64].…”

“…Mean soil MBC in the CTDD plots was significantly higher than in the control plots in every sampling week, except for the three weeks before the treatment and the 96th week after the treatment. A sudden deposition of massive hurricane-induced litterfall in various forests was shown to increase soil carbon input and the heterogeneity of the microenvironment for soil microbes [5], change soil C/N ratios [3,8], increase and then decrease competition for soil nutrients between soil microorganisms and plant species [23,57], and alter the biomass and biodiversity of litter invertebrates [14], all of which could be potential factors that might have jointly elevated soil MBC. These potential factors in the CTDD plots may lead to a persistent higher soil MBC in the CTDD plots.…”

Responses to canopy loss and debris deposition in a tropical forest ecosystem: Synthesis from an experimental manipulation simulating effects of hurricane disturbance

“…Fine litter (leaves + twigs and palm fronds) that was deposited on the forest floor debris addition plots of the CTE (1989 ± 26 g m À2 ; Shiels et al, 2010) was nearly identical to that in the same section of the LEF following Hurricane Hugo (1934 ± 26 g m À2 , debris suspended and deposited on the ground; Lodge et al, 1991); yet the amount of wood deposited into each debris addition plot within the CTE was slightly greater (4020 ± 139 g m À2 ; Shiels et al, 2010) than that deposited by Hurricane Hugo in the same section of the LEF (ca. 3000 g m À2 ; Zimmerman et al, 1995).…”

Understanding the key mechanisms of tropical forest responses to canopy loss and biomass deposition from experimental hurricane effects

“…The amount of debris deposited onto the forest floor varies greatly between hurricanes (e.g., Lodge et al, 1991vs. Ostertag et al, 2003 and among locations in the same forest following the same hurricane (e.g., Vogt et al, 1996vs.…”

“…Studies of animals in terrestrial ecosystems following major hurricanes have largely focused on birds (Askins and Ewert, 1991;Lynch, 1991;Waide, 1991;Wunderle et al, 1992;Wunderle, 1996;Freeman et al, 2008), bats (Gannon and Willig, 1994;Grant et al, 1997), lizards (Reagan, 1991), frogs (Woolbright, 1991;Vilella and Fogarty, 2005), and invertebrates (Willig and Camilo, 1991;Schowalter, 1994;Schowalter and Ganio, 1999). Microbial responses to hurricanes (Lodge and Cantrell, 1995;Willig et al, 1996;Vargas et al, 2010) are not well studied relative to plants and animals, yet several studies have documented ecosystem processes that in part involve microbes after these storms, such as decomposition (Herbert et al, 1999;Sullivan et al, 1999;Ostertag et al, 2003), greenhouse gas flux (Erickson and Ayala, 2004), and changes in terrestrial nutrient status (Blood et al, 1991;Lodge et al, 1991;McDowell et al, 1996;Scatena et al, 1996;Silver et al, 1996;Herbert et al, 1999;Xu et al, 2004;Heartsill Scalley et al, 2010). Recent interest in hurricane effects to tropical forests has also stemmed from models that predict an increased frequency and/or intensity of these storms associated with global climate change (Emmanuel, 2005;Nyberg et al, 2007;Bender et al, 2010).…”