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The ecological consequences of socioeconomic and land-use changes in post agriculture Puerto RicoAuthor(s): H. Ricardo Grau; T. Mitchell Aide; Jess K. Zimmerman; John R. Thomlinson; Eileen Helmer; Xioming Zou
Source: BioScience. Vol. 53, no. 12 (Dec. 2003): Pages 1159-1168
Publication Series: Miscellaneous Publication
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DescriptionContrary to the general trend in the tropics, forests have recovered in Puerto Rico from less than 10% of the landscape in the late 1940s to more than 40% in the present. The recent Puerto Rican history of forest recovery provides the opportunity to study the ecological consequences of economic globalization, reflected in a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and in human migration from rural to urban areas. Forest structure rapidly recovers through secondary succession, reaching mature forest levels of local biodiversity and biomass in approximately 40 years. Despite the rapid structural recovery, the legacy of pre-abandonment land use, including widespread abundance of exotic species and broadscale floristic homogenization, is likely to persist for centuries.
CitationGrau, H. Ricardo; Aide, T. Mitchell; Zimmerman, Jess K.; Thomlinson, John R.; Helmer, Eileen; Zou, Xioming 2003. The ecological consequences of socioeconomic and land-use changes in post agriculture Puerto Rico. BioScience. Vol. 53, no. 12 (Dec. 2003): Pages 1159-1168
KeywordsLand-use and land-cover change, Puerto Rico, secondary succession, exotic species, globalization
- The Ecological Consequences of Socioeconomic and Land-Use Changes in Postagriculture Puerto Rico.
- Gap model development, validation, and application to succession of secondary subtropical dry forests of Puerto Rico
- La otra mitad de la conservación forestal
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