http://www.fs.fed.us/research/
Puerto Rico
Forest Service Research and Development (FS R&D) delivers research to Puerto Rico through the
International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF). The IITF is located in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico and is dedicated
to tropical forestry on an international level and develops and exchanges knowledge critical to sustaining
tropical ecosystem benefits for human kind. Long-term research is conducted on two experimental forests:
Luquillo and Estate Thomas.
State Funding History
PUERTO RICO TOTAL (Río Piedras) - RWU 4151,
Tropical American Forest Conservation
FY 2013
Enacted ($)
$2,228,000
FY 2014
Enacted ($)
$2,530,000
FY 2015
Budget ($)
$2,104,000
FY 2015 Program Changes
The President’s budget includes a decrease of
$426,000 from the FY 2014 allocation. Funding will
be used to support the continuation of long term
measurements of vegetation, climate and
physico-chemical parameters in the northeastern
Puerto
Rico
Watersheds
and
leading
interdisciplinary research and collaborative efforts
with stake holders in urban watersheds. Research
activity will continue to focus on developing and
exchanging knowledge critical to sustaining the
benefits of tropical ecosystems.
Roadside fire on Culebra, Puerto Rico.
International Institute of Tropical Forestry Overview
Headquartered in Río Piedras, on the grounds of
the University of Puerto Rico, Agricultural
Experimental Station, the IITF is a tropical forestry
research and technology transfer institute. The IITF
has been in operation continually for 74 years and
supports a cadre of bilingual and trilingual
scientists,
natural
resources
managers,
professionals, technicians, laboratories, and
experimental research forests. Its mission is to
develop
and
disseminate
science-based
information that contributes to the conservation
of forests, wildlife, and watersheds of the
American Tropics in a changing environment.
The FY 2015 President’s Budget for IITF is
$2,104,000. IITF does not currently receive funding
for Forest Inventory and Monitoring. IITF will also
receive $100,000 for National Fire Plan research.
IITF may receive a competitive share of the
national amount of $6,914,000 for the Joint Fire
Science Program.
FY 2013 Key Accomplishments:
 Developed mapping tools to assist city
planners, forest managers, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), community leaders, and
residents to identify key green areas for
sustainability planning in San Juan.
 Since 1982, the Institute, in collaboration with
other organizations of the region, has
organized a biennial Caribbean Foresters
meeting that brings together foresters,
researchers, natural resources specialists, and
others that work in the Caribbean region in
forest and land management at the national
level. The 2013 Caribbean Foresters meeting
had the greatest number of participants – over
90 – with 27 countries representing the broader
Caribbean region. The focus of this meeting
was to evaluate, from empirical data, the
potential effects of climate change on
Caribbean forests. Over the course of the
meeting, participants identified over 70 sites in
the region with permanent forest plots and the
data from these plots will be entered and
shared through www.CaribbeanForesters.org,
a new online interactive tool/database.
 IITF leads an effort to establish one of the first
forest field warming experiments in the tropics.
This study will help to evaluate the vulnerability
of tropical forests to projected increases in
temperature and provide valuable forest
response information to land managers, policy
makers, and global climate modeling efforts.
 IITF led a proposal to establish a USDA
Caribbean Sub-Hub for Risk Adaptation and
Mitigation to Climate Change with other
federal and local government partners in the
Caribbean, fostering collaboration between
over 50 government and university scientists
working with climate change, agriculture, and
forests in the region.
Priority Research in Puerto Rico
Forest Service R&D priority research areas build on
existing local and regional research to solve
problems important to the American people.
Priority research activities in Puerto Rico include:
Watershed Management and Restoration: With a
growing population competing for a finite supply
of fresh water, sustaining healthy watersheds to
protect the nation’s water supply is critical to the
social and economic well-being of the United
States. About half of the world’s forested area
occurs in tropical watersheds, which are
important sources of water, food, and fiber and
are habitat to a variety of plant and animal
species. IITF is examining how external influences
such as environmental changes affect watershed
processes and how forests, in turn, influence local
and global environments.
Urban Natural Resources Stewardship: With most
people now living in urban areas, science and
new technology that informs natural resources
management and policy is critical for improving
environmental health and community well-being
in urban areas. To obtain a holistic understanding
of how environmental, social, and economic
factors interact as a socio-ecological system, IITF
scientists are leading interdisciplinary research
and collaborative efforts with stakeholders (e.g.,
San Juan city planners, forest managers, NGOs,
community leaders, scientists, and residents) in
urban watersheds.
Localized Needs Research
Focusing on critical regional and local research
Research
Needs
issues,
IITF provides
research results, tools and
technologies including:
Global Change: IITF global change research is
designed to integrate basic and applied research
on the effects of global change (climate change,
invasive species and changes in biodiversity, land
cover, and land use change) with our skills in
modeling and landscape analysis to predict
future scenarios and conditions. These forecasts
will provide essential information to resource
managers.
Fire: Global estimates of fire frequency indicate
that over 70% of active fires occur in the tropics.
Unintended fires are a major cause of
deforestation
leading
to
unsustainable
ecosystems, changes in vegetation and fire
regimes, and economic instability. IITF scientists
are evaluating the characteristics and drivers of
fire regimes in Caribbean ecosystems to identify
better restoration pathways for fire-degraded
forests.
FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (FS R&D) is a world leader in innovative science for sustaining global forest resources for future
generations. Research findings and products benefit forest and rangeland managers, and everyone who uses goods or services from
forests. We operate five research stations that encompass all 50 states, the Forest Products Laboratory located in Madison, Wisconsin, and
the International Institute of Tropical Forestry located in Puerto Rico. Our researchers and support personnel are located at 67 field sites
throughout the United States. We also maintain 80 experimental forests and ranges across the Nation. Our unique ability to integrate
science and decision making and to work across boundaries between public, private, and tribal lands through strong partnerships
advances the Agency’s three core themes of restoration, communities, and fire.
The FS R&D program has two components: Priority Research Areas and Strategic Program Areas. The Priority Research Areas address
urgent needs in seven areas: Forest Disturbance, Forest Inventory and Analysis, Watershed Management and Restoration, Bioenergy and
Biobased Products, Urban Natural Resources Stewardship, Nanotechnology, and Localized Needs Research (region-specific needs). The
Strategic Program Areas (SPAs) are the long-term programs from which Priority Research Areas are funded. The seven SPAs are: Wildland
Fire and Fuels; Invasive Species; Recreation; Resource Management and Use; Water, Air, and Soil; Wildlife and Fish; and Inventory and
Monitoring.
The FY 2015 President’s Budget includes $275,315,000 for Forest and Rangeland Research, $19,795,000 for the FS R&D National Fire Plan, and
$6,914,000 for the Joint Fire Science Program.