Puerto Rican Karst-A Vital Resource

Lugo, Ariel E.; Castro, Leopoldo Miranda; Vale, Abel; López, Tania del Mar; Prieto, Enrique Hernández; Martino, A.; Rolón, Alberto R. Puente; Tossas, Adrianne G.; McFarlane, Donald A.; Miller, Tom E. X.; Rodríguez, Armando García; Lundberg, Joyce; Thomlinson, John R.; Colón, José Ignacio López; Schellekens, Johannes H.; Ramos, Olga; Helmer, Eileen H.

doi:10.2737/wo-gtr-65

Cited by 43 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…We established 12, 0.25 ha (50 Â 50 m) plots in four protected forests of Puerto Rico that occur across a precipitation gradient ranging from ca 800 to 2200 mm yr 21 (electronic supplementary material, table S1). All plots are located on limestone-derived soils, which constitute about one-third of Puerto Rico's land area [27]. Plots were located randomly in mature stands that lacked signs of human land-use and recent natural disturbance.…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study System And Tree Census Plotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One probable explanation for these results is that while highly aggregated climatic variables capture coarse trends in community functional composition, some combination of fine-scale habitat heterogeneity, temporal niche partitioning and recruitment limitation is critical for the maintenance of local diversity. Regions of karst topography, including our study system, are noted for particularly high levels of microhabitat heterogeneity [27]. Environmental conditions including soil depth, chemistry, water-holding capacity and exposure to sun and wind vary dramatically at fine scales, thus providing the potential for fine-scale niche partitioning as an important mechanism for the maintenance of local functional diversity.…”

Section: (A) Evaluating the Community-weighted Meanoptimality Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 98%

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Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

2016

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The notion that relationships between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits (i.e. plot-level trait values weighted by species abundances) and environmental conditions reflect selection towards locally optimal phenotypes is challenged by the large amount of interspecific trait variation typically found within ecological communities. Reconciling these contrasting patterns is a key to advancing predictive theories of functional community ecology. We combined data on geographical distributions and three traits (wood density, leaf mass per area and maximum height) of 173 tree species in Puerto Rico. We tested the hypothesis that species are more likely to occur where their trait values are more similar to the local CWM trait values (the 'CWM-optimality' hypothesis) by comparing species occurrence patterns (as a proxy for fitness) with the functional composition of forest plots across a precipitation gradient. While 70% of the species supported CWM-optimality for at least one trait, nearly 25% significantly opposed it for at least one trait, thereby contributing to local functional diversity. The majority (85%) of species that opposed CWMoptimality did so only for one trait and few species opposed CWM-optimality in multivariate trait space. Our study suggests that constraints to local functional variation act more strongly on multivariate phenotypes than on univariate traits.

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Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study System And Tree Census Plotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (A) Evaluating the Community-weighted Meanoptimality Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 98%

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

2016

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“…The National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program’s Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) birth cohort ( PROTECT Center Northeastern University, 2020 ) was formed in PR’s hydrologically vulnerable northern karst region ( Padilla et al, 2011 ; Padilla and Vesper, 2018 ; Torres et al, 2018b ) in 2010, specifically to explore potential links between environmental contaminant exposure and preterm delivery or other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The northern karst region, which covers approximately 19% of the land surface, contains two of the island’s most spatially extensive and productive drinking-water aquifers ( Lugo et al, 2001 ; Molina, 2015 ). The region is notable for one of the highest densities of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) sites in the nation ( U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2020f ; Yu et al, 2015 ) and a record of groundwater contamination and drinking-water supply-well closures ( Guzman-Rios et al, 1987 ; Torres et al, 2018a ; Zack et al, 1987 ) due, in part, to historical waste disposal in wells, sinkholes, and other preferential recharge features ( Hunter and Arbona, 1995 ; Padilla et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pilot-scale expanded assessment of inorganic and organic tapwater exposures and predicted effects in Puerto Rico, USA

Bradley

Padilla

Romanok

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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A pilot-scale expanded target assessment of mixtures of inorganic and organic contaminants in point-of-consumption drinking water (tapwater, TW) was conducted in Puerto Rico (PR) to continue to inform TW exposures and corresponding estimations of cumulative human-health risks across the US. In August 2018, a spatial synoptic pilot assessment of than 524 organic and 37 inorganic chemicals was conducted in 14 locations (7 home; 7 commercial) across PR. A follow-up 3-day temporal assessment of TW variability was conducted in December 2018 at two of the synoptic locations (1 home, 1 commercial) and included daily pre- and post-flush samples. Concentrations of regulated and unregulated TW contaminants were used to calculate cumulative in vitro bioactivity ratios and Hazard Indices (HI) based on existing human-health benchmarks. Synoptic results confirmed that human exposures to inorganic and organic contaminant mixtures, which are rarely monitored together in drinking water at the point of consumption, occurred across PR and consisted of elevated concentrations of inorganic contaminants (e.g., lead, copper), disinfection byproducts (DBP), and to a lesser extent per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates. Exceedances of human-health benchmarks in every synoptic TW sample support further investigation of the potential cumulative risk to vulnerable populations in PR and emphasize the importance of continued broad characterization of drinking-water exposures at the tap with analytical capabilities that better represent the complexity of both inorganic and organic contaminant mixtures known to occur in ambient source waters. Such health-based monitoring data are essential to support public engagement in source water sustainability and treatment and to inform consumer point-of-use treatment decision making in PR and throughout the US.

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“…O ne of the most important outcomes of the PA-CAT inventory was the inclusion of the Karst Restricted Zone (RZ). The karst physiography encompasses one of the most biodiverse regions in Puerto Rico, as it provides habitat for several endemic and endangered species, comprises the largest aquifer on the island, and the largest portion of mature forest, coastal wetlands, estuaries, and underground system of caves across the island (Lugo et al 2001). For various reasons, lands zoned for conservation purposes are usually not considered protected areas in the traditional sense because they tend not to comply with the criteria of long-term conservation.…”

Section: Geographic Area Clearly Defined and Delimitedmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comprehensive Inventory of Protected Areas and other Land Conservation Mechanisms in Puerto Rico

Castro‐Prieto¹,

Gould²,

Ortiz-Maldonado³

et al. 2019

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The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation's forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives-as directed by Congressto provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation.USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.

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Puerto Rican Karst-A Vital Resource

Abstract: The limestone region of Puerto Rico covers about 27.5 percent of the island's surface and is subdivided into the northern, southern, and dispersed limestone areas. All limestone areas have karst 1

Cited by 43 publications

References 29 publications

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

Pilot-scale expanded assessment of inorganic and organic tapwater exposures and predicted effects in Puerto Rico, USA

A Comprehensive Inventory of Protected Areas and other Land Conservation Mechanisms in Puerto Rico

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