Lugo Camacho, Jorge L.

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    The soil climate regimes of Puerto Rico - reassessment and implications
    (2005) Lugo Camacho, Jorge L.; Beinroth, Friedrich H.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Brannon, Gregory R.; Pérez Bolívar, Juan G.; Department of Crops and Agro-Environmental Sciences; Gilbes Santaella, Fernando
    The soil climate regimes of Puerto Rico were evaluated and their implications discussed. The main objective of this project was to evaluate soil moisture and temperature regimes in Puerto Rico. Knowledge of the soil climate is important for three major reasons: (1) to understand the development and formation of specific soils; (2) to consistently classify and map soils accurately; and (3) to apply that knowledge to the use and management of soil-plant-water systems (Mount et al., 1992, 1994). Average monthly precipitation and temperature data from 90 weather stations of the U.S. Weather Service were used to compute the soil moisture and temperature regimes using the Newhall Simulation Model program version 1.0 (Van Wambeke et al., 1991). The results of the model were evaluated with soil moisture and temperature data of five weather stations of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. The study confirms the existence of soils with an aridic moisture regime in the island. The Newhall Simulation Model identified an area of 25,450 ha with an aridic moisture regime along the south coast and on Mona Island. This is the first recognition of the aridic moisture regime in Puerto Rico. An area with ustic soil moisture regime in the northwest corner of the island was also identified. This area is currently recognized as having a udic moisture regime. The isomesic temperature regime previously identified at the Caribbean National Forest was not confirmed by the Newhall Simulation Model. The isothermic temperature regime previously identified in areas above 600 m above sea level was identified by the model in areas above 900 m. As a result of these changes in the soil climate regimes, approximately 100 soil series need to be reclassified and new soil series will have to be proposed.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Taxonomic classification of the soils of Puerto Rico, 2017
    (2018-01) Lugo Marty, Wanda I.; Santiago Lugo, Carmen; Matos Rodríguez, Manuel; Ríos Vila, Samuel A.; Lugo Camacho, Jorge L.; Muñoz Muñoz, Miguel A.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Agricultural Experimental Station
    The ecological diversity of Puerto Rico is reflected in the diversity of its soils. Ten of the 12 soil orders established by Soil Taxonomy, the official system of soil classification of the United States National Cooperative Soil Survey, are present in Puerto Rico. This report updates a previous publication on the taxonomic classification of the soils of Puerto Rico. It incorporates new categories of soils not recognized at the time of the previous publication, including Aridisols and soils with perudic moisture regimes. Several new soil series have been identified, and others have been eliminated or renamed responding to new data that has become available. The current revised publication is presented in a similar format as the previous one, incorporating tables that are easy to follow, and which conform to different user needs. The Spanish meaning of formative elements for orders and suborders was added to this publication, complementing the English counterpart. A new section has been added containing photos of soil profiles and associated landscapes representing the different soil orders on the Island, providing users with a vivid and appealing view of the diversity of Puerto Rican soils. Two maps of soil orders are included, one representing a previous (1960-1982) classification and another representing the current classification. The new map incorporates recently recognized Aridisols and new Oxisols, which were formerly mapped as Ultisols. The Aridisols in the current map are restricted to the southwest part of the Island, but it is believed that other Aridisol pockets may exist along the south coastal zone. Soil Taxonomy is a dynamic system, constantly in revision to incorporate new knowledge stemming from field and laboratory research. Thus, future revisions are expected to emerge down the road.