Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests

Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico on the 6th and 20th of September 2017, respectively. These two powerful Cat 5 hurricanes severely defoliated forest canopy and deposited massive amounts of litterfall in the forests across the island. We established a 1-ha research plot in each of four fo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xianbin Liu, Xiucheng Zeng, Xiaoming Zou, Grizelle González, Chao Wang, Si Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
Series:Forests
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/6/367
id doaj-2e581e6ef76a45539cca98174b09da41
record_format Article
spelling doaj-2e581e6ef76a45539cca98174b09da412020-11-24T21:39:12ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072018-06-019636710.3390/f9060367f9060367Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican ForestsXianbin Liu0Xiucheng Zeng1Xiaoming Zou2Grizelle González3Chao Wang4Si Yang5Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USADepartment of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USADepartment of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USAUnited States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Ceiba St.-Río Piedras, San Juan, PR 00926-1119, USADepartment of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USADepartment of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USAHurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico on the 6th and 20th of September 2017, respectively. These two powerful Cat 5 hurricanes severely defoliated forest canopy and deposited massive amounts of litterfall in the forests across the island. We established a 1-ha research plot in each of four forests (Guánica State Forest, Río Abajo State Forest, Guayama Research Area and Luquillo Experiment Forest) before September 2016, and had collected one full year data of litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hurricane-induced litterfall was collected within one week after Hurricane Irma, and within two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Each litterfall sample was sorted into leaves, wood (branches and barks), reproductive organs (flowers, fruits and seeds) and miscellaneous materials (mostly dead animal bodies or feces) after oven-drying to constant weight. Annual litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria varied from 4.68 to 25.41 Mg/ha/year among the four forests, and annual litterfall consisted of 50–81% leaffall, 16–44% woodfall and 3–6% fallen reproductive organs. Hurricane Irma severely defoliated the Luquillo Experimental Forest, but had little effect on the other three forests, whereas Hurricane Maria defoliated all four forests. Total hurricane-induced litterfall from Hurricanes Irma and Maria amounted to 95–171% of the annual litterfall production, with leaffall and woodfall from hurricanes amounting to 63–88% and 122–763% of their corresponding annual leaffall and woodfall, respectively. Hurricane-induced litterfall consisted of 30–45% leaves and 55–70% wood. Our data showed that Hurricanes Irma and Maria deposited a pulse of litter deposition equivalent to or more than the total annual litterfall input with at least a doubled fraction of woody materials. This pulse of hurricane-induced debris and elevated proportion of woody component may trigger changes in biogeochemical processes and soil communities in these Puerto Rican forests.http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/6/367annual litterfallHurricane IrmaHurricane MariaPuerto Ricosubtropical forestthe Guayama Research Areathe Guánica State Forestthe Luquillo Experimental Forestthe Río Abajo State Forestwood debris
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Xianbin Liu
Xiucheng Zeng
Xiaoming Zou
Grizelle González
Chao Wang
Si Yang
spellingShingle Xianbin Liu
Xiucheng Zeng
Xiaoming Zou
Grizelle González
Chao Wang
Si Yang
Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
Forests
annual litterfall
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Maria
Puerto Rico
subtropical forest
the Guayama Research Area
the Guánica State Forest
the Luquillo Experimental Forest
the Río Abajo State Forest
wood debris
author_facet Xianbin Liu
Xiucheng Zeng
Xiaoming Zou
Grizelle González
Chao Wang
Si Yang
author_sort Xianbin Liu
title Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
title_short Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
title_full Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
title_fullStr Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
title_full_unstemmed Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests
title_sort litterfall production prior to and during hurricanes irma and maria in four puerto rican forests
publisher MDPI AG
series Forests
issn 1999-4907
publishDate 2018-06-01
description Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico on the 6th and 20th of September 2017, respectively. These two powerful Cat 5 hurricanes severely defoliated forest canopy and deposited massive amounts of litterfall in the forests across the island. We established a 1-ha research plot in each of four forests (Guánica State Forest, Río Abajo State Forest, Guayama Research Area and Luquillo Experiment Forest) before September 2016, and had collected one full year data of litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hurricane-induced litterfall was collected within one week after Hurricane Irma, and within two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Each litterfall sample was sorted into leaves, wood (branches and barks), reproductive organs (flowers, fruits and seeds) and miscellaneous materials (mostly dead animal bodies or feces) after oven-drying to constant weight. Annual litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria varied from 4.68 to 25.41 Mg/ha/year among the four forests, and annual litterfall consisted of 50–81% leaffall, 16–44% woodfall and 3–6% fallen reproductive organs. Hurricane Irma severely defoliated the Luquillo Experimental Forest, but had little effect on the other three forests, whereas Hurricane Maria defoliated all four forests. Total hurricane-induced litterfall from Hurricanes Irma and Maria amounted to 95–171% of the annual litterfall production, with leaffall and woodfall from hurricanes amounting to 63–88% and 122–763% of their corresponding annual leaffall and woodfall, respectively. Hurricane-induced litterfall consisted of 30–45% leaves and 55–70% wood. Our data showed that Hurricanes Irma and Maria deposited a pulse of litter deposition equivalent to or more than the total annual litterfall input with at least a doubled fraction of woody materials. This pulse of hurricane-induced debris and elevated proportion of woody component may trigger changes in biogeochemical processes and soil communities in these Puerto Rican forests.
topic annual litterfall
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Maria
Puerto Rico
subtropical forest
the Guayama Research Area
the Guánica State Forest
the Luquillo Experimental Forest
the Río Abajo State Forest
wood debris
url http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/6/367
work_keys_str_mv AT xianbinliu litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
AT xiuchengzeng litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
AT xiaomingzou litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
AT grizellegonzalez litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
AT chaowang litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
AT siyang litterfallproductionpriortoandduringhurricanesirmaandmariainfourpuertoricanforests
_version_ 1725931934288183296