Effects of Hurricane Maria on an Epiphytic Community in Puerto Rico

First Advisor

Gary K. Greer

Keywords

Epiphyte, Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria, Disturbance, Fern, Bromeliad

Disciplines

Environmental Sciences | Plant Sciences

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Abstract

Climate change will likely cause an increase in severe hurricanes in the Atlantic throughout the next century. From an ecological perspective, it is important to understand the effects of such storms on ecosystems, which provide vital services (e.g., carbon sequestration) to humanity. Many studies of hurricanes on tropical forest ecosystems have focused on tree communities, while other plant groups like epiphytes (i.e., plants that grow on trees) have received less attention. We completed a field study in May-June 2018 along El Río Espíritu Santo drainage in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, to determine the effects of Hurricane Maria on an epiphytic community. Similar to other studies, we investigated impacts on forest structure and epiphyte community composition. Additionally, we measured damage (from wind and exposure to sunlight) to individual epiphytes in order to gain a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between forest and epiphyte community structures. Our results were inconclusive in terms of the extent of impact to forest structure. For example, tree size apparently decreased from a 2012 reference survey, but standing and fallen trees did not differ in size in 2018. The effects on the epiphyte community were more pronounced. Total observed species richness declined by ~15%, and per tree species richness declined by ~25%. We did not detect differences in wind-related damage, but we did observe differences in exposure-related damage in a subset of focal epiphyte species. Our study provides evidence of the processes that determine epiphyte survival vs. death in an altered post-storm forest environment.