Effects of Hurricane Disturbance on Groundwater Chemistry and Riparian Functionin a Tropical Rain Forest

摘要

The long-term response of shallow groundwater chemistry to the canopy disturbanceand defoliation associated with Hurricane Hugo was studied at two sites in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. The sites differed in bedrock type, dominant vegetation, and availability of pre-hurricane data. Riparian processes appear to reduce but not eliminate hydrologic losses of N following catastrophic disturbance. The nature of the long-term biogeochemical response to disturbance in this tropical rain forest ecosystem is similar to that observed in some montane temperate forests, and the time course of recovery appears to be asociated with the speed with which vegetation regrows following disturbance.