Summary of the effects of Caribbean hurricanes on vegetation.

PAPERS IN THIS ISSUE OF BIOTROPICA treat the effects of hurricanes on forest vegetation in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, South Carolina, Jamaica, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Using a diversity of research approaches, the authors studied hurricane damage to vegetation and recorded short-term (<2 yr) patterns of vegetation response. We summarize these papers and some other recent studies, and we discuss possible longer term patterns of vegetation recovery. Tanner et al. ( 1991) place these studies of hurricane damage in a broader context and suggest directions for future research.

[1]  Thomas W. Doyle,et al.  The Role of Disturbance in the Gap Dynamics of a Montane Rain Forest: An Application of a Tropical Forest Succession Model , 1981 .

[2]  Landforms Influence Patterns of Hurricane Damage: Evidence From Jamaican Montane Forests , 1991 .

[3]  T. Williams,et al.  Hurricane Hugo wind damage to southeastern U.S. coastal forest tree species , 1991 .

[4]  Valerie Kapos,et al.  Hurricane effects on forest ecosystems in the Caribbean , 1991 .

[5]  A. Reilly.  The Effects of Hurricane Hugo in Three Tropical Forests in the U.S. Virgin Islands , 1991 .

[6]  W. McDowell,et al.  Summary of ecosystem-level effects of Caribbean hurricanes. , 1991 .

[7]  N. Brokaw,et al.  Forest structure before and after Hurricane Hugo at three elevations in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[8]  D. J. Lodge,et al.  Short-Term Effects of Hurricane Gilbert on Terrestrial Bird Populations on Jamaica , 1992 .

[9]  Lawrence R. Walker,et al.  Differential seedling responses to litter after Hurricane Hugo in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[10]  Francis E. Putz,et al.  Hurricane damage to old growth forest in Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina, USA , 1991 .

[11]  Effects of Hurricane Hugo on Manilkara bidentata, a primary tree species in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[12]  J. Vandermeer,et al.  Recovery of the rain forest of southeastern Nicaragua after destruction by hurricane Joan , 1991 .

[13]  L. Walker,et al.  Tree damage and recovery from Hurricane Hugo in Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[14]  Mark E. Harmon,et al.  The impact of Hurricane Gilbert on trees, litterfall, and woody debris in a dry tropical forest in the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula , 1991 .

[15]  Gene E. Likens,et al.  Hurricane Hugo: damage to a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico , 1992, Journal of Tropical Ecology.

[16]  Ariel E. Lugo,et al.  Hurricane damage to a flood plain forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[17]  David R. Foster,et al.  Species and stand response to catastrophic wind in central New England, U.S.A , 1988 .

[18]  John Vandermeer,et al.  Contrasting Hurricane Damage in Tropical Rain Forest and Pine Forest , 1990 .

[19]  A. Lugo,et al.  The impact of Hurricane David on the forests of Dominica , 1983 .

[20]  W. Dittus,et al.  The influence of cyclones on the dry evergreen forest of Sri Lanka , 1985 .

[21]  Denny S. Fernandez,et al.  Changes in Light Availability Following Hurricane Hugo in a Subtropical Montane Forest in Puerto Rico , 1991 .

[22]  Thomas R. Crow,et al.  A rainforest chronicle: a 30-year record of change in structure and composition at El Verde, Puerto Rico. , 1980 .