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Abstract:
The composition of plant communities changes with elevation in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF). The goal of this project is to document the patterns of these changes, and in particular, to determine whether the distributions of individual species are independent of one another, or whether they are related, in either a congruent or a hierarchical manner. Thirty-two permanent vegetation plots, each 50m by 20m are being established in the LEF, with 5 plots along the Icacos river, 11 along the Mamayes river and 16 along the Sonadora stream. The plots were established at every 100m in elevation, starting at 200m above sea level. All woody, free-standing stems greater than 1cm dbh were marked, identified and mapped into 5x5 subquadrats. We anticipated that gradient analysis will show whether the distributions of species are coincident or independent, enabling us to evaluate whether separate, genuine plant communities exist in the LEF. Because the plots are permanent, we also expected that they allow us to better evaluate how different vegetation types, at different elevations, respond to large scale disturbances, especially hurricanes.
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Variables Descriptions | Data File |
Date Range![]() |
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Sites summary: Coordinates and Elevation of the Elevational Plots |
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2001-09-17 to 2002-07-31 |
Mameyes transect data of the Elevational Plots |
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2001-09-17 to 2002-07-31 |
Icacos transect data of the Elevational Plots |
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2001-09-17 to 2002-07-21 |
Sonadora transect data of the Elevational Plots |
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2001-09-07 to 2002-07-31 |