El Toro Wilderness Residency
Luquillo Experimental Forest
March 1-30, 2013
Application Deadline: December 15, 2012
US Forest Service
Closest Airport: Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Closest town: Luquillo, Rio Grande or Fajardo, PR
Amenities:
Simple housing will be provided at the Sabana Field Research Station. The Sabana Field Research Station
is a short drive from the Bisley Long-term Ecological Research watersheds and about a 1-hour drive from
the Headquarters complex in Río Piedras. The Sabana Station includes nine buildings: Administrative
building housing all administrative support; Laboratory building for water analyses; Storage building;
Back-up generator to ensure that electrical power is available for continuous operation during power
blackout, and two potable water tanks that can provide drinking water during water shortages; Office
building for scientists and technicians; Communications and physical security building; Multipurpose
building that includes office space, laboratory space, oven room, sample preparation room, storage
areas, laundry room, and flammable storage area; Dormitory building, with restrooms, kitchen, living
and balcony areas; and Mycology laboratory.
IITF Sabana Field Research Station – Newly built Dormitory and Multipurpose Buildings
Websites that provide cultural, community and ecological information about the location:
https://sites.google.com/a/ites.upr.edu/luquillo-lter/home
http://luq.lternet.edu/node/6296
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsbdev3_042894
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsbdev3_042937
1
Research – Description of four projects:
I.
Soil Ecology and Ecological Gradient Analyses in Tropical Ecosystems
The scientist- in-charge of these studies is involved with the Luquillo - Long Term Ecological Research
Program (LUQ). The goal of LUQ is to understand how forest and stream ecosystems, and the services
they support, are changing in Puerto Rico. Particularly, we seek to understand how key environmental
drivers – hurricanes, climate, and land use – cause long-term change in biodiversity, biogeochemistry,
and their interactions, with the ultimate aim of foreseeing future ecosystem states and managing
ecosystem services in the tropics. The study of Ecological Gradient Analyses in Tropical Ecosystems is a
comprehensive analysis of ecological gradients in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. This tropical
island setting comprises six ecological life zones and is ideal for studying environmental gradients given
dramatic differences in temperature and precipitation that are associated with a rise in elevation from
sea level to more than 1000 m over a distance of 10-15 km. Also, the scientists studies Earthworm
Effects on Ecosystem Processes. These studies aim to tease out the influence of earthworm
communities on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in a sub-tropical wet forest in northeastern Puerto Rico.
Scientist(s) they will be collecting data with:
Grizelle González (please see attached resume)
Type of data that will be collected: Meteorological data (rainfall, air and soil temperature), litterfall,
vegetation identification, soil samples, laboratory preparation of soil and litter samples, earthworm
sorting and weighing, microarthropods from soil and litter samples.
Special clothing needed for data collection: Clothes appropriate for working in the field and under
tropical conditions (hiking boots, long sleeves, hat, sun protection, and breathable fabric is convenient).
II. Stream fauna in the Luquillo Experimental Forest
There is a tight link between rainfall, headwater stream discharges, and shrimp abundances in the
Luquillo Experimental Forest stream ecosystems. If stream channel structure and heterogeneity are
altered, riffles can become constrained and dry out, causing stream pools to become disconnected,
which in turn leads to a decrease in downstream dispersal of larvae, upstream migration of post-larvae,
and the downstream flow of leaves, branches, wood and other organic matter on which stream fauna
depend. The aquatic fauna of these streams have life history strategies that can sustain their
populations following the change in physical conditions after the passing of hurricanes, and their
2
populations have been observed to recover rapidly after such events. However, the cumulative effects
of more frequent and intense hurricanes coupled with more drought effects could greatly alter these
populations. Moreover, activities such as harvest of larger species for human consumption and dam
construction can diminish populations when combined with increased natural disturbances such as
more frequent hurricanes and droughts.
Most of the tropical island stream fauna in the LEF, including fish, shrimp, and snails, have to migrate
between the stream freshwater habitats to the saltwater estuarine and coastal habitats to complete
their life cycles. Aquatic insects disperse by flying as adults and the freshwater crabs complete their life
cycle in headwater streams and do not migrate to coastal waters. The freshwater shrimp that dominate
the streams of Luquillo spend their lives as adults in the headwater streams and rivers where they feed,
grow slowly and reproduce. The gravid, egg carrying, female shrimp then release larvae into the flowing
water. The larvae drift with the current downstream all the way until they reach the estuarine waters
where the larvae will remain in this drifting, planktonic stage, until they develop into post-larval
juveniles. As post larvae, they migrate upstream and where they can occupy pools that serve as spatial
refuge from fish predators once they climb steep waterfalls that are barriers to predatory fishes. This
migratory life cycle is classified as amphidromous, and it is also observed in other native aquatic species
such as gobiid fishes and neritinid snails.
Scientist(s) they will be collecting data with:
Tamara Heartsill (please see attached resume)
Type of data that will be collected: Presence, quantity and size of various migrating shrimp species
native to the Luquillo Mountains streams and rivers.
Special clothing needed for data collection: Shoes that protect the feet and are OK to get wet. Either
boots or closed toe aquatic sandals. Clothes that are comfortable when wet, quick drying. For sun
protection a comfortable brimmed hat and light weight long-sleeve shirt.
III. Bisley Watershed Long Term Projects (Study 2518)
The Bisley Experimental Watersheds are a series of adjacent drainages in the Northeast section of the
Luquillo Mountains; situated in the Northeastern corner of Puerto Rico. The crest of the mountains is
about 9 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Over a distance of approximately 7.5 km, the mountain rise from
100 to 1,075 m in elevation. In general, as elevation increase, mean annual precipitation increases and
vegetation cover change from plantations and secondary Tabonuco (Dacryodes excelsa) forest to
primary Tabonuco, Palo Colorado (Cyrilla racemiflora), and ultimately dwarf type forests.
At the Bisley watersheds the mean annual rainfall average is 3,480 mm/yr. This amount of
3
rainfall places the watersheds in the subtropical wet forest life zone. There are four soil types
associations representing 19 soils series in the area. The principal orders are Ultisols and Inceptisols 50
and 20 percent respectively of the total forest area The dominant soils are deep, high highly weathered
and leached clays with low pH, and base Saturation less than 35 percent at 1.25. Hurricanes and severe
tropical storms are common phenomena and occur mainly during late summer months. The Luquillo
forest is affected by this type of hurricane at least once every 20 to 30 years.
Numerous databases are compiled at the Bisley Watershed area, including maps of geology soils,
vegetation, disturbance history; air temperature, precipitation since 1987; and solar radiation.
Scientist(s) they will be collecting data with (attach photo and resume):
Samuel Moya (please see attached resume)
Type of data that will be collected:
Vegetation surveys (e.g., density and diversity of trees, herbs and tree seedlings cover); Streams
sediments and litterflow weight in and collection for chemistry analysis; Water quality measurements in
streams in the LEF (water flow, level, temperature and conductivity); Litterfall collection in 1 square
meter baskets, (60 baskets) for dry weight-in and chemistry analysis; Watershed measurements for
throughfall precipitation percentage and water samples chemistry analysi . Monitoring of weather
stations (wind speed and vectors, precipitation, solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, solar
albedo, atmospheric ozone gas and photosynthetic radiation).
Special clothing needed for data collection: Clothes appropriate for working in the field and under
tropical conditions (hiking boots, long sleeves, hat, sun protection, and breathable fabric is convenient)
IV. The Aquatic Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project
The integrated terrestrial and aquatic GAP analysis project develops information on Puerto Rico and the
US Virgin Islands’ freshwater and marine resources – including habitat description and mapping, species
distributions and conservation status, and protected areas and conservation priorities – in order to
conduct integrated analyses of gaps in conservation protection. The goal is to provide information to aid
in conservation planning to sustain fish, wildlife, and nature resources supported by open space.
Scientist(s) they will be collecting data with (attach photo and resume):
4
William A. Gould (please see attached resume)
Type of data that will be collected: Field reconnaissance – most of our data is remote sensing or
compilations of field studies but we can do some site visits to important aquatic habitats related to the
Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project. Sites we could visit include rivers, wetlands, mangroves, lagoons, coral
reefs.
Special clothing needed for data collection: Sun protection, hat. Footwear will depend on sites – may
need hiking boots or tennis shoes.
Websites that will provide cultural, community and ecological information about the location:
prgap.org – website in progress but describes activities. Locations to visit are potentially throughout
Puerto Rico and the USVI
5