Marengo Casul, Alejandro J.

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Tree species composition affects coarse woody debris stocks of novel secondary forests in the moist region of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria
(2023-05-03) Marengo Casul, Alejandro J.; Abelleira Martínez, Oscar J.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Sotomayor-Ramírez, David; González, Grizelle; Department of Crops and Agro-Environmental Sciences; Pérez-Alegría, Luis R.
In Puerto Rico, novel forest ecosystems dominated by introduced tree species experienced significant amounts of coarse woody debris (CWD) accumulation following hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, necessitating a better understanding of CWD quantity and quality to gauge these forests' response to extreme disturbances. This study quantified CWD biomass, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous stocks in 21 novel forest stands in Puerto Rico and assessed their relationships to soil nitrogen and extractable phosphorous stocks using line-intersect sampling and wood sampling of dominant introduced species. Results indicate varying CWD biomass and carbon stocks between sites dominated by different tree species and located on different geological substrates, with no relationship of CWD biomass to soil nitrogen or extractable phosphorous and no effects of soil order, series, or hydrologic group. These insights are crucial for understanding post-hurricane nutrient dynamics and developing forest management strategies for climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration.