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  1. Avian studies and research opportunities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest: a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph Wunderle, Jr; Wayne J. Arendt

    2011-01-01

    The Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) located on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has a rich history of ecological research, including a variety of avian studies, and is one of the most active ecological research sites in the Neotropics. The LEF spans an elevational range from 100 to 1075mover which five life zones and four forest types are found in a warm, humid...

  2. Puerto Rico’s forests, 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas J. Brandeis; Jeffery A. Turner; NO-VALUE

    2013-01-01

    This report presents the results of the fourth forest inventory of the islands of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Forest area on mainland Puerto Rico held steady, or increased slightly, from 2004 to 2009. This change would seem to indicate that the rate of forest cover increase on mainland Puerto Rico has slowed since the forest inventory began in 1980. But the...

  3. An annotated list of the flora of the Bisley Area Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico 1987 to 1992

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jesus Danilo Chinea; Renee J. Beymer; Carlos Rivera; Ines Sastre de Jeses; F.N. Scatena

    1993-01-01

    Known species of plants, including bryophytes and ferns, are listed for the area of the Bisley experimental watershed area, a subtropical wet forest in the Luquillo Mountains of northeastern Puerto Rico.

  4. Seed dispersal turns an experimental plantation on degraded land into a novel forest in urban northern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oscar Abelleira; Elvia J. Meléndez Ackerman; Diana García Montiel; John A. Parrotta

    2015-01-01

    Planting tree species with desirable traits may catalyze forest regeneration in increasingly common degraded lands by restoring soil properties and attracting seed dispersers. We sampled forest regeneration in an experimental plantation of Albizia lebbek, an introduced N-fixing species, on a degraded pasture in northern Puerto Rico, 27 years after its establishment. We...

  5. Spatial and seasonal dynamics of surface soil carbon in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hongqing Wang; Joseph D. Cornell; Charles A.S. Hall; David P. Marley

    2002-01-01

    We developed a spatially-explicit version of the CENTURY soil model to characterize the storage and flux of soil organic carbon (SOC, 0–30 cm depth) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), Puerto Rico as a function of climate, vegetation, and soils. The model was driven by monthly estimates of average air temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration...

  6. Evaporation from a tropical rain forest, Luquillo Experimental Forest, eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellekens, J.; Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Scatena, F. N.; Bink, N. J.; Holwerda, F.

    2000-08-01

    Evaporation losses from a watertight 6.34 ha rain forest catchment under wet maritime tropical conditions in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, were determined using complementary hydrological and micrometeorological techniques during 1996 and 1997. At 6.6 mm d-1 for 1996 and 6.0 mm d-1 for 1997, the average evapotranspiration (ET) of the forest is exceptionally high. Rainfall interception (Ei), as evaluated from weekly throughfall measurements and an average stemflow fraction of 2.3%, accounted for much (62-74%) of the ET at 4.9 mm d-1 in 1996 and 3.7 mm d-1 in 1997. Average transpiration rates (Et) according to a combination of the temperature fluctuation method and the Penman-Monteith equation were modest at 2.2 mm d-1 and 2.4 mm d-1 in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Both estimates compared reasonably well with the water-budget-based estimates (ET - Ei) of 1.7 mm d-1 and 2.2 mm d-1. Inferred rates of wet canopy evaporation were roughly 4 to 5 times those predicted by the Penman-Monteith equation, with nighttime rates very similar to daytime rates, suggesting radiant energy is not the dominant controlling factor. A combination of advected energy from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, low aerodynamic resistance, plus frequent low-intensity rain is thought to be the most likely explanation of the observed discrepancy between measured and estimated Ei.

  7. Variation in nutrient characteristics of surface soils from the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico: A multivariate perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    S. B. Cox; M. R. Willig; F. N. Scatena

    2002-01-01

    We assessed the effects of landscape features (vegetation type and topography), season, and spatial hierarchy on the nutrient content of surface soils in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) of Puerto Rico. Considerable spatial variation characterized the soils of the LEF, and differences between replicate sites within each combination of vegetation type (tabonuco vs...

  8. Modelling rainfall interception by a lowland tropical rain forest in northeastern Puerto Rico.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schellekens, J.; Scatena, F.N.; Bruijnzeel, L.A.; Wickel, A.J.

    1999-01-01

    Recent surveys of tropical forest water use suggest that rainfall interception by the canopy is largest in wet maritime locations. To investigate the underlying processes at one such location-the Luquillo Experimental Forest in eastern Puerto Rico-66 days of detailed throughfall and above-canopy

  9. Seven-year responses of trees to experimental hurricane effects in a tropical rainforest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jess K. Zimmerman; James Aaron Hogan; Aaron B. Shiels; John E. Bithorn; Samuel Matta Carmona; Nicholas Brokaw

    2014-01-01

    We experimentally manipulated key components of severe hurricane disturbance, canopy openness and detritus deposition, to determine the independent and interactive effects of these components on tree recruitment, forest structure, and diversity in a wet tropical forest in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Canopy openness was increased by trimming branches...

  10. Impacts of disturbance initiated by road construction in a subtropical cloud forest in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lydia P. Olander; F.N Scatena; Whendee L. Silver

    1998-01-01

    The impacts of road construction and the spread of exotic vegetation, which are common threats to upper elevation tropical forests, were evaluated in the subtropical cloud forests of Puerto Rico. The vegetation, soil and microclimate of 6-month-old road®lls, 35-year-old road®lls and mature forest with and without grass understories were compared. Recent road®lls had...

  11. Culvert flow in small drainages in montane tropical forests: observations from the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    F. N. Scatena

    1990-01-01

    This paper describe the hydraulics of unsubmerged flow for 5 culverts in the Luiquillo Esperimental Forest of Puerto Rico. A General equation based on empirical data is presented to estimate culvert discharge during unsubmerged conditions. Large culverts are needed in humid tropical montane areas than in humid temperatute watersheds and are usually appropriate only...

  12. Cutover tropical forest productivity potential merits assessment, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank H. Wadsworth; Brynne Bryan; Julio Figueroa-Colón

    2010-01-01

    Timber extraction continues to add to vast cutover tropical forests. They are unattractive economically because of the loss of merchantable timber and the long delay foreseen for recovery. Despite this, wood in cutover tropical forests is in line to become more marketable as demand continues and old-growth forests become less accessible. In a cutover forest in Puerto...

  13. Sixty-two years of change in subtropical wet forest structure and composition at El Verde, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    A.P. Drew; J.D. Boley; Y. Zhao; F.H. Wadsworth

    2009-01-01

    A plot established in 1943 in a subtropical wet forest at the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico has been assessed periodically for changes in species and size of all trees >4cm diameter. Forest dynamics on a 0.72ha plot (EV-3) at 400masl at El Verde show recovery principally from hurricanes of 1928 and 1932, timber stand improvement in 1958, and from...

  14. POPULATION DECLINES OF THE PUERTO RICAN VIREO IN GUANICA FOREST.

    Science.gov (United States)

    JOHN FAABORG; KATE M. DUGGER; WAYNE J. ARENDT; BETHANY L. WOODWORTH; MICHAEL E. BALTZ

    1997-01-01

    Abundance of the Puerto Rican Vireo (Vireo Zutimeri) in Guanica Forest, Puerto Rico, has declined gradually over the period 1973-1996 as determined by constant effort mist netting. Concurrent studies of breeding vireos show low nesting success, primarily due to parasitism by Shiny Cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis). This decline may reflect the rather recent entry of the...

  15. Bird Perches Increase Forest Seeds on Puerto Rican Landslides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaron B. Shiels; Lawrence R. Walker

    2003-01-01

    Landslides result in the loss of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and the soil seed bank. These losses impede timely recovery of tropical forest communities. In this study we added bird perches to six Puerto Rican landslides with three types of surfaces (bare, climbing fern, grass) in an effort to facilitate inputs of forest seeds through bird dispersal...

  16. Effects of model choice and forest structure on inventory-based estimations of Puerto Rican forest biomass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas J. Brandeis; Maria Del Rocio; Suarez Rozo

    2005-01-01

    Total aboveground live tree biomass in Puerto Rican lower montane wet, subtropical wet, subtropical moist and subtropical dry forests was estimated using data from two forest inventories and published regression equations. Multiple potentially-applicable published biomass models existed for some forested life zones, and their estimates tended to diverge with increasing...

  17. The effect of human activity on the structure and composition of a tropical forest in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    D.C. Garcia-Montiel; F.N. Scatena

    1994-01-01

    From European settlement to the 1940s, the Bisley watersheds of the Luquilio Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, were used for agroforestry, selective logging, charcoal production, and timber management. Each of these activities affected different parts of the landscape in different ways and at different times. After nearly 50 years of unhindered regeneration, six...

  18. Diameter growth performance of tree functional groups in Puerto Rican secondary tropical forests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Adame

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Aim of study: Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Yet, the high species diversity of mixed tropical forests, including many uncommon species, hinders the development of species-specific diameter growth models.Area of study: In these analyses, we grouped 82 species from secondary forests distributed across 93 permanent plots on the island of Puerto Rico.Material and Methods: Species were classified according to regeneration strategy and adult height into six functional groups. This classification allowed us to develop a robust diameter growth model using growth data collected from 1980-1990. We used mixed linear model regression to analyze tree diameter growth as a function of individual tree characteristics, stand structure, functional group and site factors.Main results: The proportion of variance in diameter growth explained by the model was 15.1%, ranging from 7.9 to 21.7%. Diameter at breast height, stem density and functional group were the most important predictors of tree growth in Puerto Rican secondary forest. Site factors such as soil and topography failed to predict diameter growth.Keywords: Caribbean forests; growth model; tropical forest succession; Puerto Rico.

  19. Assessing biomass accumulation in second growth forests of Puerto Rico using airborne lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinuzzi, S.; Cook, B.; Corp, L. A.; Morton, D. C.; Helmer, E.; Keller, M.

    2017-12-01

    Degraded and second growth tropical forests provide important ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and soil stabilization. Lidar data measure the three-dimensional structure of forest canopies and are commonly used to quantify aboveground biomass in temperate forest landscapes. However, the ability of lidar data to quantify second growth forest biomass in complex, tropical landscapes is less understood. Our goal was to evaluate the use of airborne lidar data to quantify aboveground biomass in a complex tropical landscape, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico provides an ideal place for studying biomass accumulation because of the abundance of second growth forests in different stages of recovery, and the high ecological heterogeneity. Puerto Rico was almost entirely deforested for agriculture until the 1930s. Thereafter, agricultural abandonment resulted in a mosaic of second growth forests that have recovered naturally under different types of climate, land use, topography, and soil fertility. We integrated forest plot data from the US Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program with recent lidar data from NASA Goddard's Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal (G-LiHT) airborne imager to quantify forest biomass across the island's landscape. The G-LiHT data consisted on targeted acquisitions over the FIA plots and other forested areas representing the environmental heterogeneity of the island. To fully assess the potential of the lidar data, we compared the ability of lidar-derived canopy metrics to quantify biomass alone, and in combination with intensity and topographic metrics. The results presented here are a key step for improving our understanding of the patterns and drivers of biomass accumulation in tropical forests.

  20. Development of equations for predicting Puerto Rican subtropical dry forest biomass and volume

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas J. Brandeis; Matthew Delaney; Bernard R. Parresol; Larry Royer

    2006-01-01

    Carbon accounting, forest health monitoring and sustainable management of the subtropical dry forests of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands require an accurate assessment of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) and stem volume. One means of improving assessment accuracy is the development of predictive equations derived from locally collected data. Forest inventory...

  1. Trailblazing the Carbon Cycle of Tropical Forests from Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandra Brown; Ariel Lugo

    2017-01-01

    We review the literature that led to clarifying the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle from a time when they were considered sources of atmospheric carbon to the time when they were found to be atmospheric carbon sinks. This literature originates from work conducted by US Forest Service scientists in Puerto Rico and their collaborators. It involves the...

  2. Ecophysiology of a Mangrove Forest in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    ARIEL E. LUGO; ERNESTO MEDINA; ELVIRA CUEVAs; CINTR& #211; GILBERTO N; EDDIE N. LABOY NIEVES; SCH& #196; YARA EFFER NOVELLI

    2007-01-01

    We studied gas exchange, leaf dimensions, litter production, leaf and litterfall chemistry, nutrient flux to the forest floor, retranslocation rates, and nutrient use efficiency of mangroves in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico. The fringe forest had a salinity gradient from the ocean (35‰) to a salt flat (100‰) and a basin (about 80‰). Red (Rhizophora mangle), white (...

  3. Dwarf forest recovery after disturbances in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    P.L. Weaver

    2008-01-01

    Dwarf forest in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains varies according to substrate and topography with very short, dense forest growing on exposed, rocky sites. High elevation level sites suffered considerable damage during past hurricanes whereas the trees on certain lower slopes were protected by ridges or spurs. Post-disturbance recovery of dwarf forest on two types of...

  4. SURVIVAL OF CAPTIVE-REARED PUERTO RICAN PARROTS RELEASED IN THE CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST

    Science.gov (United States)

    THOMAS H. WHITE; JAIME A. COLLAZO; FRANCISCO J. VILELLA

    2005-01-01

    We report first-year survival for 34 captive-reared Puerto Rican Parrots (Amazona vittata) released in the Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico between 2000 and 2002. The purpose of the releases were to increase population size and the potential number of breeding individuals of the sole extant wild population, and to refine release protocols for eventual...

  5. Invasion by native tree species prevents biotic homogenization in novel forests of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oscar J. Abelleira Martinez

    2010-01-01

    There is concern that secondary forests dominated by introduced species, known as novel forests, increase taxonomical similarity between localities and lead to biotic homogenization in human dominated landscapes. In Puerto Rico, agricultural abandonment has given way to novel forests dominated by the introduced African tulip tree Spathodea campanulata Beauv. (...

  6. Litterfall Production Prior to and during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Four Puerto Rican Forests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xianbin Liu

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico on the 6th and 20th of September 2017, respectively. These two powerful Cat 5 hurricanes severely defoliated forest canopy and deposited massive amounts of litterfall in the forests across the island. We established a 1-ha research plot in each of four forests (Guánica State Forest, Río Abajo State Forest, Guayama Research Area and Luquillo Experiment Forest before September 2016, and had collected one full year data of litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hurricane-induced litterfall was collected within one week after Hurricane Irma, and within two weeks after Hurricane Maria. Each litterfall sample was sorted into leaves, wood (branches and barks, reproductive organs (flowers, fruits and seeds and miscellaneous materials (mostly dead animal bodies or feces after oven-drying to constant weight. Annual litterfall production prior to the arrival of Hurricanes Irma and Maria varied from 4.68 to 25.41 Mg/ha/year among the four forests, and annual litterfall consisted of 50–81% leaffall, 16–44% woodfall and 3–6% fallen reproductive organs. Hurricane Irma severely defoliated the Luquillo Experimental Forest, but had little effect on the other three forests, whereas Hurricane Maria defoliated all four forests. Total hurricane-induced litterfall from Hurricanes Irma and Maria amounted to 95–171% of the annual litterfall production, with leaffall and woodfall from hurricanes amounting to 63–88% and 122–763% of their corresponding annual leaffall and woodfall, respectively. Hurricane-induced litterfall consisted of 30–45% leaves and 55–70% wood. Our data showed that Hurricanes Irma and Maria deposited a pulse of litter deposition equivalent to or more than the total annual litterfall input with at least a doubled fraction of woody materials. This pulse of hurricane-induced debris and elevated proportion of woody component may trigger changes in

  7. Trailblazing the Carbon Cycle of Tropical Forests from Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Brown

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available We review the literature that led to clarifying the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle from a time when they were considered sources of atmospheric carbon to the time when they were found to be atmospheric carbon sinks. This literature originates from work conducted by US Forest Service scientists in Puerto Rico and their collaborators. It involves the classification of forests by life zones, estimation of carbon density by forest type, assessing carbon storage changes with ecological succession and land use/land cover type, describing the details of the carbon cycle of forests at stand and landscape levels, assessing global land cover by forest type and the complexity of land use change in tropical regions, and assessing the ecological fluxes and storages that contribute to net carbon accumulation in tropical forests. We also review recent work that couples field inventory data, remote sensing technology such as LIDAR, and GIS analysis in order to more accurately determine the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle and point out new avenues of carbon research that address the responses of tropical forests to environmental change.

  8. Tree species distribution and forest structure along environmental gradients in the dwarf forest of the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter L. Weaver

    2010-01-01

    Eleven groups of three plots stratified by aspect (windward vs. leeward) and topography (ridge, slope, and ravine) and varying in elevation from 880 to about 1,000 metres were used to sample forest structure and species composition within the dwarf forest of the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Stem density to windward was significantly greater on slopes, andf or all...

  9. Los bosques de Puerto Rico, 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humfredo Marcano Vega; Thomas J. Brandeis; Jeffery A. Turner; No Other

    2015-01-01

    Este informe presenta los resultados del cuarto inventario forestal de las islas del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. El área de bosque en la isla grande de Puerto Rico se mantuvo constante o aumentó ligeramente del año 2004 al 2009. Este cambio parece indicar que la tasa de incremento de cubierta forestal en la isla grande de Puerto Rico ha disminuido desde que...

  10. Allometry, biomass, and chemical content of novel African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata) forests in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariel E. Lugo; Oscar J. Abelleira; Alexander Collado; Christian A. Viera; Cynthia Santiago; Diego O. Velez; Emilio Soto; Giovanni Amaro; Graciela Charon; Jr. Colon; Jennifer Santana; Jose L. Morales; Katherine Rivera; Luis Ortiz; Luis Rivera; Mianel Maldonado; Natalia Rivera; Norelis J. Vazquez

    2011-01-01

    The African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata, the most common tree in Puerto Rico, forms novel forest types with mixtures of native and other introduced tree species. Novel forests increase in area in response to human activity and there is no information about their biomass accumulation and nutrient cycling. We established allometric relationships and chemically...

  11. Observations on the fauna that visit African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata Beauv.) forests in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oscar J. Abelleira Martinez

    2008-01-01

    Diurnal field observations in secondary forests dominated by the introduced African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata) in Puerto Rico show a faunal assemblage that consists mostly of native species (81.1 percent). The most abundant species were common birds and reptiles, yet some uncommon fauna appear to be visiting or residing in these forests. The observations...

  12. Population decline of the Elfin-woods Warbler Setophaga angelae in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    W.J. Arendt; S.S. Qian; K. Mineard

    2013-01-01

    We estimated the population density of the globally threatened Elfin-woods Warbler Setophaga angelae within two forest types at different elevations in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in north-eastern Puerto Rico. Population densities ranged from 0.01 to 0.02 individuals/ha in elfin woodland and 0.06–0.26 individuals/ha in palo colorado forest in 2006, with average...

  13. Comparing soil organic carbon dynamics in plantation and secondary forest in wet tropics in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    LI YIQING; MING XU; ZOU XIAOMING; PEIJUN SHI§; YAOQI ZHANG

    2005-01-01

    We compared the soil carbon dynamics between a pine plantation and a secondary forest, both of which originated from the same farmland abandoned in 1976 with the same cropping history and soil conditions, in the wet tropics in Puerto Rico from July 1996 to June 1997. We found that the secondary forest accumulated the heavy-fraction organic carbon (HF-OC) measured by...

  14. Wood Decomposition of Cyrilla racemiflora (Cyrillaceae) in Puerto Rican Dry and Wet Forests: A 13-year Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juan A. Torres; Grizelle Gonzalez

    2005-01-01

    We studied the decomposition of Cyrilla racemiflora logs over a 13-yr period in tropical dry and wet forests in Puerto Rico. The mean mass loss, ratio of soft to hard wood, nutrient concentrations, and the diversity of wood-inhabiting organisms were greater in logs decomposing in the dry forest than in the wet forest. Termites were also more abundant in the logs...

  15. Spatial Ecology of Puerto Rican Boas (Epicrates inornatus) in a Hurricane Impacted Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph M. Wunderle Jr.; Javier E. Mercado Bernard Parresol Esteban Terranova 2

    2004-01-01

    Spatial ecology of Puerto Rican boas (Epicrates inornatus, Boidae) was studied with radiotelemetry in a subtropical wet forest recovering from a major hurricane (7–9 yr previous) when Hurricane Georges struck. Different boas were studied during three periods relative to Hurricane Georges: before only; before and after; and after only. Mean daily movement per month...

  16. Carbon isotope characterization of vegetation and soil organic matter in subtropical forests in Luquillo, Puerto Rico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, J.C. von; Tieszen, L.L.

    1995-01-01

    We examined natural abundances of 13 C in vegetation and soil organic maner (SOM) of subtropical wet and rain forests to characterize the isotopic enrichment through decomposition that has been reported for temperate forests. Soil cores and vegetative samples from the decomposition continuum (leaves, new litter, old liner, wood, and roots) were taken from each of four forest types in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. SOM δ 13 C was enriched 1.60/00 relative to aboveground litter. We found no further enrichment within the soil profile. The carbon isotope ratios of vegetation varied among forests, ranging from -28.20/00 in the Colorado forest to -26.90/00 in the Palm forest. Isotope ratios of SOM differed between forests primarily in the top 20 em where the Colorado forest was again most negative at -28.00/00, and the Palm forest was most positive at -26.50/00. The isotopic differences between forests are likely attributable to differences in light regimes due to canopy density variation, soil moisture regimes, and/or recycling of CO 2 . Our data suggest that recalcitrant SOM is not derived directly from plant lignin since plant lignin is even more 13 C depleted than the bulk vegetation. We hypothesize that the anthropogenic isotopic depletion of atmospheric CO 2 , (ca 1.50/00 in the last 150 years) accounts for some of the enrichment observed in the SOM relative to the more modern vegetation in this study and others. This study also supports other observations that under wet or anaerobic soil environments there is no isotopic enrichment during decomposition or with depth in the active profile. (author)

  17. Carbon isotope characterization of vegetation and soil organic matter in subtropical forests in Luquillo, Puerto Rico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fischer, J.C. von [Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States); Tieszen, L. L.

    1995-06-15

    We examined natural abundances of {sup 13}C in vegetation and soil organic maner (SOM) of subtropical wet and rain forests to characterize the isotopic enrichment through decomposition that has been reported for temperate forests. Soil cores and vegetative samples from the decomposition continuum (leaves, new litter, old liner, wood, and roots) were taken from each of four forest types in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. SOM δ{sup 13}C was enriched 1.60/00 relative to aboveground litter. We found no further enrichment within the soil profile. The carbon isotope ratios of vegetation varied among forests, ranging from -28.20/00 in the Colorado forest to -26.90/00 in the Palm forest. Isotope ratios of SOM differed between forests primarily in the top 20 em where the Colorado forest was again most negative at -28.00/00, and the Palm forest was most positive at -26.50/00. The isotopic differences between forests are likely attributable to differences in light regimes due to canopy density variation, soil moisture regimes, and/or recycling of CO{sub 2}. Our data suggest that recalcitrant SOM is not derived directly from plant lignin since plant lignin is even more {sup 13}C depleted than the bulk vegetation. We hypothesize that the anthropogenic isotopic depletion of atmospheric CO{sub 2}, (ca 1.50/00 in the last 150 years) accounts for some of the enrichment observed in the SOM relative to the more modern vegetation in this study and others. This study also supports other observations that under wet or anaerobic soil environments there is no isotopic enrichment during decomposition or with depth in the active profile. (author)

  18. Four new species of Coenogonium (Ascomycota: Ostropales) from vulnerable forest ecosystems in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.A. Mercado-Diaz; W.A. Gould; G. Gonzalez; R. Lucking

    2013-01-01

    Four new species of Coenogonium are described from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico—C. aurantiacum Mercado-Díaz & Lucking, C. borinquense Mercado-Díaz & Lucking, C. dimorphicum Mercado-Díaz & Lucking and C. portoricense Mercado-Díaz & Lucking. All were discovered in small and highly fragmented forest remnants of...

  19. An improved water budget for the El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, as determined by the Water Supply Stress Index Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liangxia Zhang; Ge Sun; Erika Cohen; Steven McNulty; Peter Caldwell; Suzanne Krieger; Jason Christian; Decheng Zhou; Kai Duan; Keren J. Cepero-Pérez

    2018-01-01

    Quantifying the forest water budget is fundamental to making science-based forest management decisions. This study aimed at developing an improved water budget for the El Yunque National Forest (ENF) in Puerto Rico, one of the wettest forests in the United States. We modified an existing monthly scale water balance model, Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI), to reflect...

  20. Agricultural Abandonment, Suburban Growth, and Forest Expansion in Puerto Rico between 1991 and 2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel K. Parés-Ramos

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The response of local economies to the globalization process can have a large effect on population and land-use dynamics. In countries with a high population density and relatively high levels of education, the globalization process has resulted in a shift in the local economy from agriculture to manufacturing, technology, and service sectors. This shift in the economy has impacted land-use dynamics by decreasing agricultural lands, increasing urban growth, and in some cases, increasing forest cover. This process of economic and forest transition has been well documented in Puerto Rico for the period 1950 to 1990, but some authors predicted that poor planning and continued urban growth would eliminate the gains in forest cover. To investigate the impacts of recent economic changes, we evaluated demographic and land-use changes for 880 "barrios" (i.e., neighborhoods, the smallest administrative unit, in Puerto Rico using government census data from 1990 and 2000 and land-cover classifications from 1991 and 2000. During this period, the population increased by 284 127 people (8.2%. Most of the growth was in the suburban barrios, whereas urban barrios lost population. This shift was reflected by the construction of more than 100 000 housing units in suburban barrios. Although urban sprawl is perceived as the major land-cover change, urban cover only increased from 10% to 11% between 1990 and 2000, whereas the increase in forest cover was much greater (28% to 40%. Grasslands and shrublands were the major sources of new urban and forest areas in 2000. Although these results are encouraging in terms of increasing forest cover, most of the new development has been concentrated in the coastal plains, which are the location of most of the remaining agricultural areas, a few protected areas, and threatened ecosystems (e.g., mangroves.

  1. The Luquillo Mountains: forest resources and their history

    Science.gov (United States)

    P. L. Weaver

    2012-01-01

    This report presents an overview of the El Yunque National Forest, which is also designated as Luquillo Experimental Forest, in northeastern Puerto Rico. The principal topics include the environmental setting (geology, soils, and climate), environmental gradients, arborescent flora, vertebrate fauna, and forest management (i.e., plantations, silvicultural operations,...

  2. Long-term changes in structure and composition following hurricanes in a primary lower montane rain forest in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    P.L. Weaver

    2013-01-01

    Ridges within the lower montane rain forests (sensu Beard) of the Caribbean Basin are dominated by Dacryodes excelsa, a tree species known as tabonuco in Puerto Rico and gommier in the Lesser Antilles. Periodially, hurricanes traverse the islands causing changes in structure, species composition, and dynamics of forests. The chronology of post-hurricane vegetation...

  3. Hydrologic regimes of forested, mountainous, headwater basins in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    David A. Post; Julia A. Jones

    2001-01-01

    This study characterized the hydrologic regimes at four forested, mountainous long-term ecological research (LTER) sites: H.J. Andrews (Oregon), Coweeta (North Carolina), Hubbard Brook (New Hampshire), and Luquillo (Puerto Rico). Over 600 basinyears of daily streadow records were examined from 18 basins that have not experienced human disturbances since at least the...

  4. Fragmentation, topography, and forest age modulate impacts of drought on a tropical forested landscape in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uriarte, M.; Schwartz, N.; Budsock, A.

    2017-12-01

    Naturally regenerating second-growth forests account for ca. 50% of tropical forest cover and provide key ecosystem services. Understanding climate impacts on these ecosystems is critical for developing effective mitigation programs. Differences in environmental conditions and landscape context from old-growth forests may exacerbate climate impacts on second-growth stands. Nearly 70% of forest regeneration is occurring in hilly, upland, or mountain regions; a large proportion of second-growth forests are also fragmented. The effects of drought at the landscape scale, however, and the factors that modulate landscape heterogeneity in drought impacts remain understudied. Heterogeneity in soil moisture, light, and temperature in fragmented, topographically complex landscapes is likely to influence climate impacts on these forests. We examine impacts of a severe drought in 2015 on a forested landscape in Puerto Rico using two anomalies in vegetation indices. The study landscape is fragmented and topographically complex and includes old- and second-growth forests. We consider how topography (slope, aspect), fragmentation (distance to forest edge, patch size), and forest age (old- vs second-growth) modulate landscape heterogeneity of drought impacts and recovery from drought. Drought impacts were more severe in second-growth forests than in old-growth stands. Both topography and forest fragmentation influences the magnitude of drought impacts. Forest growing in steep areas, south facing slopes, small patches, and closer to forest edges exhibited more marked responses to drought. Forest recovery from drought was greater in second-growth forests and south facing slopes but slower in small patches and closer to forest edges. These findings are congruent with studies of drought impacts on tree growth in the study region. Together these results demonstrate the need for a multi-scalar approach to the study of drought impacts on tropical forests.

  5. Modelling rainfall interception by a lowland tropical rain forest in northeastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellekens, J.; Scatena, F. N.; Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Wickel, A. J.

    1999-12-01

    Recent surveys of tropical forest water use suggest that rainfall interception by the canopy is largest in wet maritime locations. To investigate the underlying processes at one such location—the Luquillo Experimental Forest in eastern Puerto Rico—66 days of detailed throughfall and above-canopy climatic data were collected in 1996 and analysed using the Rutter and Gash models of rainfall interception. Throughfall occurred on 80% of the days distributed over 80 rainfall events. Measured interception loss was 50% of gross precipitation. When Penman-Monteith based estimates for the wet canopy evaporation rate (0.11 mm h -1 on average) and a canopy storage of 1.15 mm were used, both models severely underestimated measured interception loss. A detailed analysis of four storms using the Rutter model showed that optimizing the model for the wet canopy evaporation component yielded much better results than increasing the canopy storage capacity. However, the Rutter model failed to properly estimate throughfall amounts during an exceptionally large event. The analytical model, on the other hand, was capable of representing interception during the extreme event, but once again optimizing wet canopy evaporation rates produced a much better fit than optimizing the canopy storage capacity. As such, the present results support the idea that it is primarily a high rate of evaporation from a wet canopy that is responsible for the observed high interception losses.

  6. H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Art McKee; Pamela. Druliner

    1998-01-01

    The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest is a world renowned center for research and education about the ecology and management of forests and streams. Located about 50 miles (80 km) east of Eugene, Oregon, the Andrews Experimental Forest lies in the Blue River Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. Established in 1948, the Experimental Forest is administered...

  7. Long-term response of Caribbean palm forests to hurricanes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariel Lugo; J.L. Frangi

    2016-01-01

    We studied the response of Prestoea montana (Sierra Palm, hereafter Palm) brakes and a Palm floodplain forest to hurricanes in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. Over a span of 78 years, 3 hurricanes passed over the study sites for which we have 64 years of measurements for Palm brakes and 20 years for the Palm floodplain forest. For each stand, species...

  8. Correlation between earthworms and plant litter decomposition in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennifer Dechainea; Honghua Ruanb; Yaniria Sanchez-de Leon; Xiaoming Zou

    2005-01-01

    Earthworms are recognized to play an important role in the decomposition of organic materials. To test the use of earthworms as an indicator of plant litter decomposition, we examined the abundance and biomass of earthworms in relation to plant litter decomposition in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico. We collected earthworms at 0–0.1m and 0.1–0.25m soil depths from...

  9. A Comparison of Two Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Techniques Integrating Satellite-Based Remotely Sensed Data and Ground Data for Tropical and Semiarid Forests in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Two above-ground forest biomass estimation techniques were evaluated for the United States Territory of Puerto Rico using predictor variables acquired from satellite based remotely sensed data and ground data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA)...

  10. Tank bromeliads capture Saharan dust in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royer, Dana L.; Moynihan, Kylen M.; Ariori, Carolyn; Bodkin, Gavin; Doria, Gabriela; Enright, Katherine; Hatfield-Gardner, Rémy; Kravet, Emma; Nuttle, C. Miller; Shepard, Lisa; Ku, Timothy C. W.; O'Connell, Suzanne; Resor, Phillip G.

    2018-01-01

    Dust from Saharan Africa commonly blows across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Caribbean. Most methods for measuring this dust either are expensive if collected directly from the atmosphere, or depend on very small concentrations that may be chemically altered if collected from soil. Tank bromeliads in the dwarf forest of El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, have a structure of overlapping leaves used to capture rainwater and other atmospheric inputs. Therefore, it is likely that these bromeliads are collecting in their tanks Saharan dust along with local inputs. Here we analyze the elemental chemistry, including rare earth elements (REEs), of tank contents in order to match their chemical fingerprint to a provenance of the Earth's crust. We find that the tank contents differ from the local soils and bedrock and are more similar to published values of Saharan dust. Our study confirms the feasibility of using bromeliad tanks to trace Saharan dust in the Caribbean.

  11. Just passing through --- high Hg deposition to Puerto Rico forest moves quickly off the landscape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanley, J. B.; Willenbring, J. K.; Kaste, J. M.; Occhi, M.; McDowell, W. H.

    2012-12-01

    Atmospheric mercury (Hg) in wet deposition at the Luquillo Experimental Forest in northeastern Puerto Rico, averages 28 μg m-2 yr-1, higher than any site in the USA Mercury Deposition Network. Despite the high deposition, Hg content of soils, vegetation, and biota are below global averages. The low Hg content of watershed surfaces, coupled with exceptionally high stream total Hg flux, suggest that most of the Hg passes through the watershed with minimal retention. We assessed Hg dynamics in two adjacent watersheds, Rio Icacos underlain by quartz diorite, and Rio Mameyes underlain by volcaniclastic rocks. At both sites, high-flow Hg concentrations approached 100 ng L-1, dominated by particulate Hg. In order to assess the apparent pass-through nature of Hg in this tropical forest, we measured 7Be and 10Be isotopes from natural, cosmogenic fallout adsorbed on stream suspended particles to constrain the Hg age /residence time and source (atmospheric vs. geogenic or legacy Hg from 19th century gold mining). Ubiquitous 7Be (half-life 53 days) and relatively high 7Be/10Be ratios on suspended particles suggest that stream Hg was dominated by erosion from exposed surfaces, supporting a short residence time. The low watershed retention of the high Hg throughput limits adverse biological effects in this tropical ecosystem.

  12. Hourly laying patterns of the Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus) in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wayne Arendt

    2011-01-01

    Temporal aspects of egg deposition are important factors governing avian reproductive success. I report hourly egg-laying patterns of the Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in northeastern Puerto Rico during 1979–2000. Initiatory eggs were laid by early morning (median 5 0642 hrs, AST) and almost half of the eggs were laid by...

  13. Non-indigenous bamboo along headwater streams of the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico: leaf fall, aquatic leaf decay and patterns of invasion

    Science.gov (United States)

    PAUL J. O' CONNOR; ALAN P. COVICH; F. N. SCATENA; LLOYD L. LOOPE

    2000-01-01

    The introduction of bamboo to montane rain forests of the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico in the 1930s and 1940s has led to present-day bamboo monocultures in numerous riparian areas. When a non-native species invades a riparian ecosystem, in-stream detritivores can be affected. Bamboo dynamics expected to in¯uence stream communities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest...

  14. Comparison of passive fog gauges for determining fog duration and fog interception by a Puerto Rican elfin cloud forest

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Holwerda, F; Bruijnzeel, L.A.; Scatena, F.N.

    2011-01-01

    Between 5 March and 10 May 2001, the performance of three types of passive fog gauges (wire harp WH, standard fog collector SC and Juvik gauge JU) was compared at a wind-exposed Puerto Rican elfin cloud forest site. The gauges were used to determine the timing and duration of fog, as well as

  15. Fogwater Inputs to a Cloud Forest in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eugster, W.; Burkard, R.; Holwerda, F.; Bruijnzeel, S.; Scatena, F. N.; Siegwolf, R.

    2002-12-01

    Fog is highly persistent at upper elevations of humid tropical mountains and is an important pathway for water and nutrient inputs to mountain forest ecosystems. Measurements of fogwater fluxes were performed in the Luquillo mountains of Puerto Rico using the eddy covariance approach and a Caltech-type active strand cloudwater collector. Rainfall and throughfall were collected between 25 June--7 August 2002. Samples of fog, rain, stemflow and throughfall were analyzed for inorganic ion and stable isotope concentrations (δ18O and δD). Initial results indicate that fog inputs can occur during periods without rain and last for up to several days. The isotope ratios in rainwater and fogwater are rather similar, indicative of the proximity of the Carribbean Sea and the close interrelation between the origins of fog and rain at our experimental site. Largest differences in isotope ratios for fog were found between daytime convective and nighttime stable conditions. Throughfall was always exceeding rainfall, indicating (a) the relevance of fogwater inputs and (b) the potentially significant undersampling of rainfall due to relatively high wind speeds (5.7 m/s mean) and the exposition of our field site close to a mountain ridge. Our size-resolved measurements of cloud droplets (40 size bins between 2 and 50 μm aerodynamic diameter) indicate that the liquid water content of fog in the Luquillo mountains is 5 times higher than previously assumed, and thus does not differ from the values reported from other mountain ranges in other climate zones. Average deposition rates are 0.88 mm and 6.5 mm per day for fog and rain, respectively.

  16. Effects of post-hurricane fertilization and debris removal on earthworm abundance and biomass in subtropical forests in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grizelle Gonzalez; Y. Li; X. Zou

    2007-01-01

    Hurricanes are a common disturbance in the Caribbean, striking the island of Puerto Rico on average every 21 years. Hurricane Hugo (1989) distributed the canopy litter onto the forest floor changing the chemistry and quantity of litter inputs to the soil. In this study, we determined the effect of inorganic fertilization on earthworm abundance, biomass, and species...

  17. Diameter growth of subtropical trees in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas J. Brandeis

    2009-01-01

    Puerto Rico’s forests consist of young, secondary stands still recovering from a long history of island-wide deforestation that largely abated in the mid-20th century. Limited knowledge about growth rates of subtropical tree species in these forests makes it difficult to accurately predict forest yield, biomass accumulation, and carbon...

  18. The Use of a Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Technology for Monitoring Land Use and Soil Carbon Change in the Subtropical Dry Forest Life Zone of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velez-Rodriguez, Linda L. (Principal Investigator)

    1996-01-01

    Aerial photography, one of the first form of remote sensing technology, has long been an invaluable means to monitor activities and conditions at the Earth's surface. Geographic Information Systems or GIS is the use of computers in showing and manipulating spatial data. This report will present the use of geographic information systems and remote sensing technology for monitoring land use and soil carbon change in the subtropical dry forest life zone of Puerto Rico. This research included the south of Puerto Rico that belongs to the subtropical dry forest life zone. The Guanica Commonwealth Forest Biosphere Reserve and the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve are studied in detail, because of their location in the subtropical dry forest life zone. Aerial photography, digital multispectral imagery, soil samples, soil survey maps, field inspections, and differential global positioning system (DGPS) observations were used.

  19. Wet canopy evaporation from a Puerto Rican lower montane rain forest: the importance of realistically estimated aerodynamic conductance

    Science.gov (United States)

    F. Holwerda; L.A. Bruijnzeel; F.N. Scatena; H.F. Vugts; A.G.C.A. Meesters

    2012-01-01

    Rainfall interception (I) was measured in 20 m tall Puerto Rican tropical forest with complex topography for a 1-year period using totalizing throughfall (TF) and stemflow (SF) gauges that were measured every 2–3 days. Measured values were then compared to evaporation under saturated canopy conditions (E) determined with the Penman–Monteith (P–M) equation, using (i)...

  20. A dendrochronological study of teak (Tectona grandis L. f., Verbenaceae) in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margaret S. Devall; Bernard R. Parresol

    2003-01-01

    In Puerto Rico, an island in the West Indies, large areas of primary forest have been cut and converted to farmland or to secondary forest; subsequently the farmlands declined in fertility and were abandoned. Various tree species were planted in order to restore the degraded land and to provide timber. Teak is a species with great restoration potential in Puerto Rico...

  1. The Ecological Consequences of Socioeconomic and Land-Use Changes in Postagriculture Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    H. RICARDO GRAU; T. MITCHELL AIDE; JESS K. ZIMMERMAN; JOHN R. HELMER THOMLINSON; XIOMING ZOU

    2003-01-01

    Contrary to the general trend in the tropics, forests have recovered in Puerto Rico from less than 10% of the landscape in the late 1940s to more than 40% in the present. The recent Puerto Rican history of forest recovery provides the opportunity to study the ecological consequences of economic globalization, reflected in a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and...

  2. Secondary forest succession and tree planting at the Laguna Cartagena and Cabo Rojo wildlife refuges in southwestern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    P.L. Weaver; J.J. Schwagerl

    2008-01-01

    Secondary forest succession and tree planting are contributing to the recovery of the Cabo Rojo refuge (Headquarters and Salinas tracts) and Laguna Cartagena refuge (Lagoon and Tinaja tracts) of the Fish and Wildlife Service in southwestern Puerto Rico. About 80 species, mainly natives, have been planted on 44 ha during the past 25 y in an effort to reduce the threat...

  3. Diversity of plasmodial slime molds (myxomycetes in coastal, mountain, and community forests of Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, the Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikki Heherson A. Dagamac

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available No profiling of diversity of myxomycetes has ever been conducted in one of the biodiversity hotspot areas in the Philippine archipelago, and this necessitates a swift survey of myxomycetes in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. An assessment of diversity of myxomycetes collected from seven collecting points of three different forest types in the study area showed a total of 926 records of myxomycetes. Of which, 42 morphospecies belonging to 16 genera are reported in this study. Species richness of myxomycetes was higher in collecting points that were found in inland lowland mountain forests, but the most taxonomically diverse species was found in coastal forests. Myxomycete species, namely, Arcyria cinerea, Diderma hemisphaericum, Physarum echinosporum, Lamproderma scintillans, and Stemonitis fusca, were found in all the collecting points. Manmade disturbances and forest structure may affect the occurrence of myxomycetes.

  4. Chemical constituents in clouds and rainwater in the Puerto Rican rainforest: potential sources and seasonal drivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. Gioda; O.L. Mayol-Bracero; F. N. Scatena; K. C. Weathers; V. L. Mateus; W. H. McDowell

    2013-01-01

    Cloud- and rain-water samples collected between 1984 and 2007 in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, were analyzed in order to understand the main processes and sources that control their chemistry. Three sites were used: El Verde Field Station (380 m asl), Bisley (361 m asl), and East Peak (1051 m asl). Bulk rainwater samples were collected from all sites,...

  5. Puerto Rico Above Ground Biomass Map, 2000

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This image dataset details the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico above-ground forest biomass (AGB) (baseline 2000) developed by the United States (US) Environmental...

  6. Characterization of the Network of Protected Areas in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. Castro-Prieto; Maya Quinones; William Gould

    2016-01-01

    Our goal was to describe the biodiversity and associated landscape diversity and forest cover characteristics within the network of terrestrial protected areas in Puerto Rico. We conducted spatial analysis to quantify different indicators of diversity at these sites. We found that protected areas in Puerto Rico overlap the most species-rich regions on the island,...

  7. The Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cary C. Russell; Ronald E. Thill; David L. Kulhavy

    2002-01-01

    On December 14, 1944, the Seventy-Eighth United States Congress passed a bill that authorized the transfer of 2,560 acres in Nacogdoches County, Texas, to the research branch of the United States Forest Service (USFS). This land became the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest (SFAEF) on September 19. 1945. One of eighty-one federal experimental forests and ranges...

  8. Foraging density for squirrel monkey Saimiri sciureus in two forests in Puerto Lopez - Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Astwood R.

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Forest remnants were analyzed to determine the density of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus and the degree of alteration of the forest, by selecting areas for the conservation and maintenance of the species in natural environments. Materials and methods. Linear transects were conducted on two wooden fragments, “La Reforma” and “Campo Hermoso” farms (Puerto Lopez, Meta, Colombia, recording sightings of squirrel monkeys and identifying the tree species used by the primates. Results. The fragments studied correspond to trails at the edge of water bodies with low connectivity. Highest density values were observed on the second transect of La Reforma, a possible consequence of an overcrowding phenomenon due to the high degree of isolation of the fragment. The species preferentially used as refuge and food source were: Bellucia grossularioides, Eugenia jambos, Inga alba, Mauritia flexuosa, Pseudolmedia laevis and Rollinia edulis. Conclusions. The phenology of the plant species allows for a dynamic food supply, considering the constant availability of food for the primates. Therefore, despite the evident ecological problem of these forests, it is possible to use active restoration programs to strengthen the existing dynamics and balance the biogeochemical dynamics of the ecosystem, so that socioeconomic human activities are not in conflict with conservation efforts and vice versa.

  9. Changes in home range of breeding and post-breeding male Pearly-eyed Thrashers in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jose William Beltran; Joseph M. Wunderle, Jr.; Wayne J. Arendt

    2010-01-01

    Food abundance, time of year, and stage of the reproductive cycle are important factors affecting home range size in birds. Between 23 January and 28 November 2003, we determined the home range and core area sizes for 10 radio-tagged male Pearly-eyed Thrashers (Margarops fuscatus; Mimidae) within the Luquillo Experimental Forest, northeastern Puerto Rico. We found...

  10. Experimental Study of the Effect of Language (English and Spanish on Advertisement Effectiveness with Puerto Rican Hispanic University Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Lebrón

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available Even though the population of Puerto Rico includes a large percent of residents with some knowledge of the English language (bilinguals, the vast majority communicates using Spanish, which is their native language. Not surprisingly, the majority of advertisements in Puerto Rican media use the Spanish language. The common sense assumption that Spanish advertising is significantly superior to English advertising when targeting Puerto Rican Hispanics living in Puerto Rico is tested experimentally in this study. The Social Value component of the Theory of Consumption Values was used to generate several Hypotheses that would favor the use of English language. The experiment used magazine-like printed illustrated advertisements to test the hypotheses, all of them dealing with relative effectiveness of Spanish versus English language advertisements. The results show that Spanish advertisements and English advertisements were about the same in terms of their persuasion effectiveness.

  11. Migration Patterns, Densities, and Growth of Neritina punctulata Snails in Rio Espiritu Santo and Rio Mameyes, Northeastern Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MARK PYRON; ALAN P. COVICH

    2003-01-01

    Snail size-frequency distributions in Rios Espiritu Santo and Mameyes, which drain the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, showed that Neritina punctulata with shell lengths greater than 30 mm were the most abundant size class at upstream sites. The highest densities for all size classes were at the downstream sites. Growth rates were 0.015 mm/day for a large...

  12. The Massabesic Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas W. McConkey; Wendell E. Smith

    1958-01-01

    White pine and fire! These two - the tree and its destroyer, fire - are keys to the history and present make-up of the research program on the Massabesic Experimental Forest at Alfred, Maine. The Forest was established in the late 1930's to study the management of eastern white pine. During World War II, it was shut down, and reopened again in 1946. Then, in 1947...

  13. Seedling and Sapling Dynamics of Treefall Pits in Puerto Rico1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence R. Walker

    2000-01-01

    Seedling and sapling dynamics in a Puerto Rican rain forest were compared between forest understory and soil pits created by the uprooting of 27 trees during Hurricane Hugo. Soil N and P, organic matter, and soil moisture were lower and bulk densities were higher in the disturbed mineral soils of the pits than in undisturbed forest soils ten months after the hurricane...

  14. Earthworm communities along an elevation gradient in Northeastern Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grizelle Gonzalez; Emerita Garcia; Veronica Cruz; Sonia Borges; Marcela Zalamea; Maria M. Rivera

    2007-01-01

    In this study, we describe earthworm communities along an elevation gradient of eight forest types in Northeastern Puerto Rico, and determine whether their abundance, biomass and/or diversity is related to climatic, soil physical/chemical and/or biotic characteristics. We found that the density, biomass, and diversity of worms varied significantly among forest types....

  15. Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dingfang Chen

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Tropical forests play an important role in regulating the global climate and the carbon cycle. With the changing temperature and moisture along the elevation gradient, the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Northeastern Puerto Rico provides a natural approach to understand tropical forest ecosystems under climate change. In this study, we conducted a soil translocation experiment along an elevation gradient with decreasing temperature but increasing moisture to study the impacts of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC and soil respiration. As the results showed, both soil carbon and the respiration rate were impacted by microclimate changes. The soils translocated from low elevation to high elevation showed an increased respiration rate with decreased SOC content at the end of the experiment, which indicated that the increased soil moisture and altered soil microbes might affect respiration rates. The soils translocated from high elevation to low elevation also showed an increased respiration rate with reduced SOC at the end of the experiment, indicating that increased temperature at low elevation enhanced decomposition rates. Temperature and initial soil source quality impacted soil respiration significantly. With the predicted warming climate in the Caribbean, these tropical soils at high elevations are at risk of releasing sequestered carbon into the atmosphere.

  16. Characteristics of fog and fogwater fluxes in a Puerto Rican elfin cloud

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eugster, W.; Burkard, R.; Holwerda, F.; Scatena, F.N.; Bruijnzeel, L.A.

    2006-01-01

    The Luquillo Mountains of northeastern Puerto Rico harbours important fractions of tropical montane cloud forests. Although it is well known that the frequent occurrence of dense fog is a common climatic characteristic of cloud forests around the world, it is poorly understood how fog processes

  17. Forest pathology and entomology at Fort Valley Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brian W. Geils

    2008-01-01

    Forest pathology and entomology have been researched at Fort Valley Experimental Forest throughout its history. The pathogens and insects of particular interest are mistletoes, decay and canker fungi, rusts, bark beetles, and various defoliators. Studies on life history, biotic interactions, impacts, and control have been published and incorporated into silvicultural...

  18. Lichens in Puerto Rico: an ecosystem approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joel A. Mercado-Díaz; William A. Gould; Grizelle Gonzalez; Robert. Lücking

    2015-01-01

    This work presents basic information on tropical lichenology. It also describes general aspects about the ecology and biodiversity of these organisms in eight forest ecosystems present along an elevational gradient in northeastern Puerto Rico. These ecosystems consist of elfin woodlands, palo colorado, sierra palm, tabonuco, lowland moist, dry, mangrove, and...

  19. Advances in the use of DNA barcodes to build a community phylogeny for tropical trees in a Puerto Rican forest dynamics plot.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W John Kress

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Species number, functional traits, and phylogenetic history all contribute to characterizing the biological diversity in plant communities. The phylogenetic component of diversity has been particularly difficult to quantify in species-rich tropical tree assemblages. The compilation of previously published (and often incomplete data on evolutionary relationships of species into a composite phylogeny of the taxa in a forest, through such programs as Phylomatic, has proven useful in building community phylogenies although often of limited resolution. Recently, DNA barcodes have been used to construct a robust community phylogeny for nearly 300 tree species in a forest dynamics plot in Panama using a supermatrix method. In that study sequence data from three barcode loci were used to generate a well-resolved species-level phylogeny.Here we expand upon this earlier investigation and present results on the use of a phylogenetic constraint tree to generate a community phylogeny for a diverse, tropical forest dynamics plot in Puerto Rico. This enhanced method of phylogenetic reconstruction insures the congruence of the barcode phylogeny with broadly accepted hypotheses on the phylogeny of flowering plants (i.e., APG III regardless of the number and taxonomic breadth of the taxa sampled. We also compare maximum parsimony versus maximum likelihood estimates of community phylogenetic relationships as well as evaluate the effectiveness of one- versus two- versus three-gene barcodes in resolving community evolutionary history.As first demonstrated in the Panamanian forest dynamics plot, the results for the Puerto Rican plot illustrate that highly resolved phylogenies derived from DNA barcode sequence data combined with a constraint tree based on APG III are particularly useful in comparative analysis of phylogenetic diversity and will enhance research on the interface between community ecology and evolution.

  20. Land Use, Conservation, Forestry, and Agriculture in Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William A. Gould

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Global food security concerns emphasize the need for sustainable agriculture and local food production. In Puerto Rico, over 80 percent of food is imported, and local production levels have reached historical lows. Efforts to increase local food production are driven by government agencies, non-government organizations, farmers, and consumers. Integration of geographic information helps plan and balance the reinvention and invigoration of the agriculture sector while maintaining ecological services. We used simple criteria that included currently protected lands and the importance of slope and forest cover in protection from erosion to identify land well-suited for conservation, agriculture and forestry in Puerto Rico. Within these categories we assessed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA farmland soils classification data, lands currently in agricultural production, current land cover, and current land use planning designations. We found that developed lands occupy 13 percent of Puerto Rico; lands well-suited for conservation that include protected areas, riparian buffers, lands surrounding reservoirs, wetlands, beaches, and salt flats, occupy 45 percent of Puerto Rico; potential working lands encompass 42 percent of Puerto Rico. These include lands well-suited for mechanized and non-mechanized agriculture, such as row and specialty crops, livestock, dairy, hay, pasture, and fruits, which occupy 23 percent of Puerto Rico; and areas suitable for forestry production, such as timber and non-timber products, agroforestry, and shade coffee, which occupy 19 percent of Puerto Rico.

  1. Role of the USDA Forest Service experimental forest: an extension point of view

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eric L. Taylor; C. Darwin Foster; Diomy Zamora

    2013-01-01

    The expansive network of experimental forests (EF) facilitated by the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) encompasses a fairly complete representation of the forest ecotypes in the nation. The network, 101 years old this year (2009), has provided researchers with a wealth of long-term data on silviculture, watershed protection, and restoration. However, our nation’s...

  2. Effects of earthworms on slopewash, surface runoff, and fine-litter transport on a humid-tropical forested hillslope in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter G in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Matthew C.; Liu, Zhigang Liu; Zou, Xiaoming; Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.

    2012-01-01

    Rainfall, slopewash (the erosion of soil particles), surface runoff, and fine-litter transport were measured in tropical wet forest on a hillslope in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, from February 1998 until April 2000. Slopewash data were collected using Gerlach troughs at eight plots, each 2 square meters in area. Earthworms were excluded by electroshocking from four randomly selected plots. The other four (control) plots were undisturbed. During the experiment, earthworm population in the electroshocked plots was reduced by 91 percent. At the end of the experiment, the electroshocked plots had 13 percent of earthworms by count and 6 percent by biomass as compared with the control plots. Rainfall during the sampling period (793 days) was 9,143 millimeters. Mean and maximum rainfall by sampling period (mean of 16 days) were 189 and 563 millimeters, respectively. Surface runoff averaged 0.6 millimeters and 1.2 millimeters by sampling period for the control and experimental plots, equal to 0.25 and 0.48 percent of mean rainfall, respectively. Disturbance of the soil environment by removal of earthworms doubled runoff and increased the transport (erosion) of soil and organic material by a factor of 4.4. When earthworms were removed, the erosion of mineral soil (soil mass left after ashing) and the transport of fine litter were increased by a factor of 5.3 and 3.4, respectively. It is assumed that increased runoff is a function of reduced soil porosity, resulting from decreased burrowing and reworking of the soil in the absence of earthworms. The background, or undisturbed, downslope transport of soil, as determined from the control plots, was 51 kilograms per hectare and the "disturbance" rate, determined from the experimental plots, was 261 kilograms per hectare. The background rate for downslope transport of fine litter was 71 kilograms per hectare and the disturbance rate was 246 kilograms per hectare. Data from this study indicate that the reduction

  3. Hydrologic influences of forest vegetation in a changing world: Learning from Forest Service experimental forests, ranges, and watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas E. Lisle; Mary Beth Adams; Leslie M. Reid; Kelly Elder

    2010-01-01

    The importance of forests in providing reliable sources of clean water cannot be underestimated. Therefore, there is a pressing need to understand how hydrologic systems function in forested ecosystems, in response to a variety of traditional and novel stressors and environments. Long-term watershed research on Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs) of the Forest...

  4. Contributions to the study of gasteromycetes of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angel M. Nieves-Rivera; D. Jean. Lodge; Orson K. Miller

    1998-01-01

    Battarrea stevenii and Tulostoma cf. meridionale, two cosmopolitan taxa are reported as new records for Puerto Rico. Both species were collected from the same disturbed subtropical dry forested area. A partial checklist of the taxa of macromycetes collected from Boquer*on Commonwealth- and Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuges is also provided.

  5. Probing the deep critical zone beneath the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buss, Heather L.; Brantley, Susan L.; Scatena, Fred; Bazilevskaya, Katya; Blum, Alex E.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Jiménez, Rafael; White, Arthur F.; Rother, G.; Cole, D.

    2013-01-01

    Recent work has suggested that weathering processes occurring in the subsurface produce the majority of silicate weathering products discharged to the world's oceans, thereby exerting a primary control on global temperature via the well-known positive feedback between silicate weathering and CO2. In addition, chemical and physical weathering processes deep within the critical zone create aquifers and control groundwater chemistry, watershed geometry and regolith formation rates. Despite this, most weathering studies are restricted to the shallow critical zone (e.g. soils, outcrops). Here we investigate the chemical weathering, fracturing and geomorphology of the deep critical zone in the Bisley watershed in the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory, Puerto Rico, from two boreholes drilled to 37.2 and 27.0 m depth, from which continuous core samples were taken. Corestones exposed aboveground were also sampled. Weathered rinds developed on exposed corestones and along fracture surfaces on subsurface rocks slough off of exposed corestones once rinds attain a thickness up to ~1 cm, preventing the corestones from rounding due to diffusion limitation. Such corestones at the land surface are assumed to be what remains after exhumation of similar, fractured bedrock pieces that were observed in the drilled cores between thick layers of regolith. Some of these subsurface corestones are massive and others are highly fractured, whereas aboveground corestones are generally massive with little to no apparent fracturing. Subsurface corestones are larger and less fractured in the borehole drilled on a road where it crosses a ridge compared with the borehole drilled where the road crosses the stream channel. Both borehole profiles indicate that the weathering zone extends to well below the stream channel in this upland catchment; hence weathering depth is not controlled by the stream level within the catchment and not all of the water in the watershed is discharged to the stream

  6. Hydrological processes of reference watersheds in Experimental Forests, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devendra Amatya; John Campbell; Pete Wohlgemuth; Kelly Elder; Stephen Sebestyen; Sherri Johnson; Elizabeth Keppeler; Mary Beth Adams; Peter Caldwell; D. Misra

    2016-01-01

    Long-term research at small, gauged, forested watersheds within the USDA Forest Service, Experimental Forest and Range network (USDA-EFR) has contributed substantially to our current understanding of relationships between forests and streamflow (Vose et al., 2014). Many of these watershed studies were established in the early to mid-20th century and have been used to...

  7. Physical aspects of Hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scatena, F.N.; Larsen, Matthew C.

    1991-01-01

    On 18 September 1989 the western part ofHurricane Hugo crossed eastern Puerto Rico and the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF). Storm-facing slopes on the northeastern part of the island that were within 15 km of the eye and received greater than 200 mm of rain were most affected by the storm. In the LEF and nearby area, recurrence intervals associated with Hurricane Hugo were 50 yr for wind velocity, 10 to 31 yr for stream discharge, and 5 yr for rainfall intensity. To compare the magnitudes of the six hurricanes to pass over PuertoRico since 1899, 3 indices were developed using the standardized values of the product of: the maximum sustained wind speed at San Juan squared and storm duration; the square of the product of the maximum sustained wind velocity at San Juan and the ratio of the distance between the hurricane eye and San Juan to the distance between the eye and percentage of average annual rainfall delivered by the storm. Based on these indices, HurricaneHugo was of moderate intensity. However, because of the path of Hurricane Hugo, only one of these six storms (the 1932 storm) caused more damage to the LEF than Hurricane Hugo. Hurricanes of Hugo's magnitude are estimated to pass over the LEF once every 50-60 yr, on average. 

  8. Effects of hurricanes and climate oscillations on annual variation in reproduction in wet forest, Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Jess K; Hogan, James Aaron; Nytch, Christopher J; Bithorn, John E

    2018-06-01

    Interannual changes in global climate and weather disturbances may influence reproduction in tropical forests. Phenomena such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are known to produce interannual variation in reproduction, as do severe storms such as hurricanes. Using stationary trap-based phenology data collected fortnightly from 1993 to 2014 from a hurricane-affected (1989 Hugo, 1998 Georges) subtropical wet forest in northeastern Puerto Rico, we conducted a time series analysis of flowering and seed production. We addressed (1) the degree to which interannual variation in flower and seed production was influenced by global climate drivers and time since hurricane disturbance, and (2) how long-term trends in reproduction varied with plant lifeform. The seasonally de-trended number of species in flower fluctuated over time while the number of species producing seed exhibited a declining trend, one that was particularly evident during the second half of the study period. Lagged El Niño indices and time series hurricane disturbance jointly influenced the trends in numbers of flowering and fruiting species, suggesting complex global influences on tropical forest reproduction with variable periodicities. Lag times affecting flowering tended to be longer than those affecting fruiting. Long-term patterns of reproduction in individual lifeforms paralleled the community-wide patterns, with most groups of lifeform exhibiting a long-term decline in seed but not flower production. Exceptions were found for hemiepiphytes, small trees, and lianas whose seed reproduction increased and then declined over time. There was no long-term increase in flower production as reported in other Neotropical sites. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  9. Long-term flow dynamics of three coastal experimental forested watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devendra M. Amatya; Artur Radecki-Pawlik

    2005-01-01

    Three 1st2nd, and 3rd order experimental forested watersheds located within Francis Marion National Forest in Coastal South Carolina were monitored for rainfall and stream outflows. These watersheds were WS80, a pine-hardwood forest (206 ha); WS79 a predominantly pine forest (500 ha); and WS78, a...

  10. Chemical and physical analyses of selected plants and soils from Puerto Rico (1981-1990)

    Science.gov (United States)

    M. J. Sanchez; E. Lopez; A. E. Lugo

    1997-01-01

    This report contains the result of many analyses conducted at the laboratory of the IITF of Puerto Rico between 1981 and 1990. our objective was to make available the chemical and physical data developed for tropical forest ecosystems.

  11. US Forest Service experimental forests and ranges: an untapped resource for social science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susan Charnley; Lee K. Cerveny

    2011-01-01

    For a century, US Forest Service experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) have been a resource for scientists conducting long-term research relating to forestry and range management social science research has been limited, despite the history of occupation and current use of these sites for activities ranging from resource extraction and recreation to public education....

  12. Stable isotope (δ18O and δ2H) data for precipitation, stream water, and groundwater in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scholl, Martha A.; Torres-Sanchez, Angel; Rosario-Torres, Manuel

    2014-01-01

    Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea (18.2 °N, 66.3 °W), with the Atlantic Ocean on its northern coast. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program study area in which most of these data were collected comprises the El Yunque National Forest and surrounding area of eastern Puerto Rico. Samples were collected in two forested watersheds, the Rio Mameyes and the Rio Icacos/Rio Blanco, on opposite sides of a ridge in the Luquillo Mountains on the eastern end of the island (fig. 1). Elevation in both watersheds ranges from sea level to approximately 1,000 meters (m). Near sea level, land use is mixed pasture, moist forest, and residential, grading to completely forested within the boundaries of El Yunque National Forest. Forest type changes with elevation from tabonuco to palo colorado to sierra palm to cloud forest above approximately 950 m (Murphy and others, 2012). The Rio Mameyes watershed is oriented north-northeast, and the basin is underlain by volcaniclastic bedrock (basaltic to andesitic volcanic sandstone/mudstone/conglomerate/breccia). The Rio Icacos/Rio Blanco watershed is oriented south-southeast. The Rio Icacos is one of the headwaters of the Rio Blanco and is underlain by quartz diorite. The lower Rio Blanco basin is underlain by andesitic volcaniclastic bedrock. This report also contains a long-term rain isotope dataset from the San Agustin site, in north-central Puerto Rico (fig. 1). Puerto Rico has a tropical climate dominated by easterly trade winds, and seasonal climate patterns affect the hydrology of the study area. The summer wet season is characterized by convective precipitation from tropical easterly waves, troughs, and cyclonic low-pressure systems, including tropical storms and hurricanes; in contrast, the drier winter season is characterized by trade-wind showers and frontal systems. The highest single-event rainfall totals tend to be associated with tropical storms

  13. Hurricane recovery at Cabezas de San Juan, Puerto Rico, and research opportunities at Conservation Trust Reserves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter L. Weaver; Elizabeth Padilla Rodriguez

    2009-01-01

    The Cabezas de San Juan Natural Reserve (El Faro), an exposed peninsular area located in the Subtropical dry forest of northeastern Puerto Rico, was impacted by hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Georges (1998). From 1998 to 2008, a 0.10 ha plot was used to assess forest structure, species composition, and stem growth. During post-hurricane recovery, stem density, tree height...

  14. Impact of nest predators, competitors, and ectoparasites on Pearly-eyed Thrashers, with comments on the potential implications for Puerto Rican Parrot recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wayne J. Arendt

    2000-01-01

    Over the past 17 years, research on a rain forest population of the Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus), with additional observations on nesting Puerto Rican Parrots (Amazona vittata) within the Sierra de Luquillo, Puerto Rico, has shown that reproductive success of thrashers and parrots is often greatly reduced as a result of the additive effects of a diverse...

  15. 76 FR 31282 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List Puerto...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-31

    ... Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by Puerto Rico (PR) Highway 2 (a state road that runs parallel to the... the subtropical moist forest life zone on limestone-derived soil in the Northern karst Region (Ewel and Whitmore 1973, p. 25) and in the subtropical wet forest on serpentine-derived soil in the Maricao...

  16. Novel dry forests in southwestern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandra Molina Colón; Ariel E. Lugo; Olga Ramos

    2011-01-01

    We report results of new research on (1) community composition of novel subtropical dry forests developing on abandoned pastures and agricultural fields in both private and protected public lands and (2) seed germination and growth rates of plantings of native tree species on degraded soils. We found that novel dry forests were dominated by introduced species, which...

  17. Long-term decline of a winter-resident bird community in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. Faaborg; W. J. Arendt; J. D. Toms; K. M. Dugger; W. A. Cox; M. Canals Mora

    2013-01-01

    Despite concern expressed two decades ago, there has been little recent discussion about continuing declines of migrant bird populations. Monitoring efforts have been focused almost exclusively on the breeding grounds. We describe the long-term decline of a winter-resident bird population in Guanica Commonwealth Forest, Puerto Rico, one of the last remaining tracts of...

  18. A network of experimental forests and ranges: Providing soil solutions for a changing world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mary Beth. Adams

    2010-01-01

    The network of experimental forests and ranges of the USDA Forest Service represents significant opportunities to provide soil solutions to critical issues of a changing world. This network of 81 experimental forests and ranges encompasses broad geographic, biological, climatic and physical scales, and includes long-term data sets, and long-term experimental...

  19. Early thinning experiments established by the Fort Valley Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benjamin P. De Blois; Alex. J. Finkral; Andrew J. Sanchez Meador; Margaret M. Moore

    2008-01-01

    Between 1925 and 1936, the Fort Valley Experimental Forest (FVEF) scientists initiated a study to examine a series of forest thinning experiments in second growth ponderosa pine stands in Arizona and New Mexico. These early thinning plots furnished much of the early background for the development of methods used in forest management in the Southwest. The plots ranged...

  20. Research related to roads in USDA experimental forests [Chapter 16

    Science.gov (United States)

    W. J. Elliot; P. J. Edwards; R. B. Foltz

    2014-01-01

    Forest roads are essential in experimental forests and rangelands (EFRs) to allow researchers and the public access to research sites and for fire suppression, timber extraction, and fuel management. Sediment from roads can adversely impact watershed health. Since the 1930s, the design and management of forest roads has addressed both access issues and watershed health...

  1. Climate shapes the novel plant communities that form after deforestation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas J. Brandeis; Eileen Helmer; H. Marcano-Vega; Ariel E. Lugo

    2009-01-01

    Environmental and past land use controls on tree species assemblages on the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were characterized to determine whether biophysical factors or land-use history has been more important in determining the species composition of secondary tropical forests after large-scale forest clearing for agriculture, widespread...

  2. Novelty and its ecological implications to dry forest functioning and conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariel Lugo; Heather. Erickson

    2017-01-01

    Tropical and subtropical dry forest life zones support forests with lower stature and species richness than do tropical and subtropical life zones with greater water availability. The number of naturalized species that can thrive and mix with native species to form novel forests in dry forest conditions in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is lower than in other...

  3. Exposure to Rabies in Small Indian Mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus) from Two Regions in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berentsen, Are R; Johnson, Shylo R; Gilbert, Amy T; VerCauteren, Kurt C

    2015-10-01

    The small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) was introduced to several Caribbean Islands to control rat (Rattus spp.) damage to sugarcane plantations. Mongooses failed at suppressing rat populations and are now considered pests throughout most of their introduced range. Importantly, mongooses are rabies reservoirs on several Caribbean Islands. In Puerto Rico, mongooses have been implicated in up to 70% of reported animal rabies cases. There is no rabies vaccination program for wildlife in Puerto Rico, and data on rabies in mongooses are limited. We conducted a serosurvey of mongooses in two different ecologic environments in Puerto Rico: El Yunque National Forest and Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge. We collected 119 serum samples from 112 mongooses, 44 (39.3%) of which were positive for rabies virus-neutralizing antibodies. We also collected oral swabs from 147 mongooses, including 88 from which we also collected serum. No oral swabs were positive for rabies virus RNA. Our data support previous research suggesting rabies virus is circulating within the mongoose population on Puerto Rico.

  4. Silvicultural activities in Pringle Falls Experimental Forest, Central Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrew Youngblood; Kim Johnson; Jim Schlaich; Boyd Wickman

    2004-01-01

    Pringle Falls Experimental Forest has been a center for research in ponderosa pine forests east of the crest of the Cascade Range since 1931. Long-term research facilities, sites, and future research opportunities are currently at risk from stand-replacement wildfire because of changes in stand structure resulting from past fire exclusion. At the same time, many of the...

  5. Land use history, environment, and tree composition in a tropical forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jill Thompson; Nicholas Brokaw; Jess K. Zimmerman; Robert B. Waide; Edwin M. III Everham; D. Jean Lodge; Charlotte M. Taylor; Diana Garcia-Montiel; Marcheterre Fluet

    2002-01-01

    The effects of historical land use on tropical forest must be examined to understand present forest characteristics and to plan conservation strategies. We compared the effects of past land use, topography, soil type, and other environmental variables on tree species composition in a subtropical wet forest in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico. The study involved...

  6. Vegetation and Ecological Characteristics of Mixed-Conifer and Red Fir Forests at the Teakettle Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malcolm North; Brian Oakley; Jiquan Chen; Heather Erickson; Andrew Gray; Antonio Izzo; Dale Johnson; Siyan Ma; Jim Marra; Marc Meyer; Kathryn Purcell; Tom Rambo; Dave Rizzo; Brent Roath; Tim. Schowalter

    2002-01-01

    Detailed analysis of mixed-conifer and red fir forests were made from extensive, large vegetation sampling, systematically conducted throughout the Teakettle Experimental Forest. Mixed conifer is characterized by distinct patch conditions of closed-canopy tree clusters, persistent gaps and shrub thickets. This heterogeneous spatial structure provides contrasting...

  7. Forest fragments as barriers to fruit fly dispersal: Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) populations in orchards and adjacent forest fragments in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, David A; Kendra, Paul E; Van Bloem, Skip; Whitmire, Stefanie; Mizell, Russ; Goenaga, Ricardo

    2013-04-01

    McPhail-type traps baited with ammonium acetate and putrescine were used to monitor populations of Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) in two orchards with hosts of these flies (mango, Mangifera indica L., and carambola, Averrhoa carambola L.), as well as in forest fragments bordering these orchards. Contour maps were constructed to measure population distributions in and around orchards. Our results indicate that Anastrepha populations are focused around host fruit in both space and time, that traps do not draw fruit flies away from hosts, even when placed within 15 m of the host, and that lures continue to function for 6 mo in the field. The contour mapping analyses reveal that populations of fruit flies are focused around ovipositional hosts. Although the trapping system does not have a very long effective sampling range, it is ideal, when used in combination with contour analyses, for assessing fine-scale (on the order of meters) population distributions, including identifying resources around which fly populations are focused or, conversely, assessing the effectiveness of management tools. The results are discussed as they pertain to monitoring and detecting Anastrepha spp. with the McPhail-type trap and ammonium acetate and putrescine baiting system and the dispersal of these flies within Puerto Rico.

  8. Islands on the edge: housing development and other threats to America's Pacific and Caribbean Island forests: a Forests on the Edge report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susan M. Stein; Mary A. Carr; Greg C. Liknes; Sara J. Comas

    2014-01-01

    This report provides an overview of expected housing density changes and related impacts to private forests on America's islands in the Pacific and Caribbean, specifically Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We discuss the vulnerability of island forests to conversion for housing...

  9. STUDY OF SOIL AND LEAF LITTER MICROBIAL FATTY ACID PROFILES IN TABONUCO FOREST IN THE LUQUILLO EXPERIMENTAL FOREST IN PUERTO RICO

    Science.gov (United States)

    The results of this study suggests that there are two significantly distinct microbial communities in the leaf litter and soil components of this tropical forest. Fungi are more abundant in the leaf litter while bacteria are more abundant in the soil.

  10. A baseline assessment of forest composition, structure, and health in the Hawai‘i experimental tropical forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert R. Pattison; Andrew N. Gray; Lori. Tango

    2015-01-01

    The US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station has been working in the Hawaiian islands since 2010. During this time they have installed a base grid of field plots across all of the Hawaiian Islands and an intensified sample of two experimental forests, the Laupāhoehoe and Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a units of the...

  11. Development of watershed hydrologic research at Santee Experimental Forest, coastal South Carolina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devendra Amatya; Carl Trettin

    2007-01-01

    Managing forested wetland landscapes for water quality improvement and productivity requires a detailed understanding of functional linkages between ecohydrological processes and management practices. Watershed studies are being conducted at USDA Forest Service Santee Experimental Forest, South Carolina, to understand the fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical...

  12. Estimating soil turnover rate from tree uprooting during hurricanes in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melanie T. Lenart; D.A. Falk; F.N. Scatena; W.R. Osterkamp

    2010-01-01

    Soil turnover by tree uprooting in primary and secondary forests on the island of Puerto Rico was measured in 42 study plots in the months immediately after the passage of a Category 3 hurricane. Trunk basal area explained 61% of the variability of mound volume and 53% of the variability of mound area. The proportion of uprooted trees, the number of uprooted trees, or...

  13. Experimental forests and ranges : 100 years of research success stories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gail Wells; Deborah Hayes; Katrina Krause; Ann Bartuska; Susan LeVan-Green; Jim Anderson; Tivoli Gough; Mary Adams; Thomas Schuler; Randy Kolka; Steve Sebestyen; Laura Kenefic; John Brissette; Susan Stout; Keith Kanoti; Fred Swanson; Sarah Greene; Margaret Herring; Martin Ritchie; Carl Skinner; Tom Lisle; Elizabeth Keppeler; Leslie Reid; Peter Wohlegemuth; Stanley Kitchen; Ward McCaughey; Jim Guldin; Don Bragg; Michael Shelton; David Loftis; Cathryn Greenberg; Julia Murphy

    2009-01-01

    In 2008, Forest Service Research and Development celebrated the Centennial Anniversary of these Experimental Forests and Ranges. This publication celebrates the many scientists who over the course of decades conducted the long-term studies that began and are continuing to shed light on important natural resource issues. Story suggestions were solicited from the...

  14. US Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges Network: a continental research platform for catchment-scale research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel Neary; Deborah Hayes; Lindsey Rustad; James Vose; Gerald Gottfried; Stephen Sebesteyn; Sherri Johnson; Fred Swanson; Mary Adams

    2012-01-01

    The US Forest Service initiated its catchment research program in 1909 with the first paired catchment study at Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado, USA. It has since developed the Experimental Forests and Ranges Network, with over 80 long-term research study sites located across the contiguous USA, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. This network provides a unique, powerful...

  15. Sixty years of research, 60 years of data: long-term US Forest Service data management on the Penobscot Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthew B. Russell; Spencer R. Meyer; John C. Brissette; Laura Kenefic

    2014-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service silvicultural experiment on the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in Maine represents 60 years of research in the northern conifer and mixedwood forests of the Acadian Forest Region. The objective of this data management effort, which began in 2008, was to compile, organize, and archive research data collected in the...

  16. Regional variation in Caribbean dry forest tree species composition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janet Franklin; Julie Ripplinger; Ethan H. Freid; Humfredo Marcano-Vega; David W. Steadman

    2015-01-01

    How does tree species composition vary in relation to geographical and environmental gradients in a globally rare tropical/subtropical broadleaf dry forest community in the Caribbean? We analyzed data from 153 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), along with 42 plots that we sampled in the Bahamian Archipelago (...

  17. The relation between land-cover and the urban heat island in northeastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    David J.R. Murphy; Myrna Hall; Charles Hall; Gordon Heisler; Steve Stehman

    2007-01-01

    As development continues in Puerto Rico, forests and grasslands are being converted to impervious cover, changing the magnitude and geographic range of the Urban Heat Island (UHI). As part of the U.S. National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Program, this study aims to quantify the various meteorological effects that urbanization may be imparting on...

  18. Vascular flora and macroscopic fauna on the Fernow Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darlene M. Madarish; Jane L. Rodrigue; Mary Beth Adams

    2002-01-01

    This report is the first comprehensive inventory of the vascular flora and macroscopic fauna known to occur within the Fernow Experimental Forest in north-central West Virignia. The compendium is based on information obtained from previous surveys, current research, and the personal observations of USDA Forest Service personnel and independent scientists. More than 750...

  19. Fifty years of watershed research on the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV: effects of forest management and air pollution on hardwood forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    M.B. Adams; P.J. Edwards; J.N. Kochenderfer; F. Wood

    2004-01-01

    In 1951, stream gaging was begun on five small headwater catchments on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia, to study the effects of forest management activities, particularly timber harvesting, on water yield and quality. Results from these watersheds, and others gaged more recently, have shown that annual water yields increase in proportion to the basal...

  20. Long-term trends from ecosystem research at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    John L. Campbell; Charles T. Driscoll; Christopher Eagar; Gene E. Likens; Thomas G. Siccama; Chris E. Johnson; Timothy J. Fahey; Steven P. Hamburg; Richard T. Holmes; Amey S. Bailey; Donald C. Buso

    2007-01-01

    Summarizes 52 years of collaborative, long-term research conducted at the Hubbard Brook (NH) Experimental Forest on ecosystem response to disturbances such as air pollution, climate change, forest disturbance, and forest management practices. Also provides explanations of some of the trends and lists references from scientific literature for further reading.

  1. Geomorphology, disturbance, and the soil and vegetation of two subtropical wet steepland watersheds of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariel E. Lugo F.N. Scatena

    1995-01-01

    Relationships between landforms, soil nutrients, forest structure, and the relative importance of different disturbances were quantified in two subtropical wet steepland watersheds in Puerto Rico. Ridges had fewer landslides and treefall gaps, more above-ground biomass, older aged stands, and greater species richness than other landscape positions. Ridge soils had...

  2. Red-tailed Hawk movements and use of habitat in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilella, Francisco; Nimitz, Wyatt F.

    2012-01-01

    The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a top predator of upland ecosystems in the Greater Antilles. Little information exists on the ecology of the insular forms of this widely distributed species. We studied movements and resource use of the Red-tailed Hawk from 2000 to 2002 in the montane forests of northeastern Puerto Rico. We captured 32 and used 21 radio-marked Red-tailed Hawks to delineate home range, core area shifts, and macrohabitat use in the Luquillo Mountains. Red-tailed Hawks in the Luquillo Mountains frequently perched near the top of canopy emergent trees and were characterized by wide-ranging capabilities and extensive spatial overlap. Home range size averaged 5,022.6 6 832.1 ha (305–11,288 ha) and core areas averaged 564.8 6 90.7 ha (150–1,230 ha). This species had large mean weekly movements (3,286.2 6 348.5 m) and a preference for roadside habitats. Our findings suggest fragmentation of contiguous forest outside protected areas in Puerto Rico may benefit the Red-tailed Hawk

  3. Habitat use of the Louisiana Waterthrush during the non-breeding season in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    M.T. Hallworth; L.R. Reitsma; K. Parent

    2011-01-01

    We used radiotelemetry to quantify habitat and spatial use patterns of neighboring Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) along two streams in the Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico during 2005–2007. Home range sizes varied with younger birds having larger home ranges and core areas than older birds. All birds occupied some length of stream but a wide range...

  4. The Psychology of Puerto Rican Migration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prewitt Diaz, Joseph O.

    The psychology of the Puerto Rican migrant to the United States mainland is explored. Puerto Ricans have been migrating to the U.S. mainland and returning to Puerto Rico for more than 125 years, and, in fact, approximately 57% of all Puerto Ricans have migrated at one time or another. The migrant experience, including the circular migration…

  5. Habitat association, size, stomach contents, and reproductive condition of Puerto Rican boas (Epicrates inornatus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, J.W.

    2003-01-01

    The Puerto Rican boa occurs in a variety of habitats, including wet montane forest, lowland wet forest, mangrove forest, wet limestone karst, and offshore cays, and from sea level to 480 m. Mean SVL of 49 encountered boas (live and road-killed) was 136.9 ?? 35.1 (range = 38.8-205 cm), with a mean mass of 952.1 ?? 349.0 g (n = 47; range = 140-1662 g). Prey in digestive tracts (n = 29) included remains of black rats, house mice, three species of anoles, bats, common ground-doves, domestic fowl chicks, and invertebrates. Females were in reproductive condition in late April through mid-August and had an average brood size of 21.8 ?? 6.0 (n = 9, range = 13-30 ).

  6. A well-resolved phylogeny of the trees of Puerto Rico based on DNA barcode sequence data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muscarella, Robert; Uriarte, María; Erickson, David L; Swenson, Nathan G; Zimmerman, Jess K; Kress, W John

    2014-01-01

    The use of phylogenetic information in community ecology and conservation has grown in recent years. Two key issues for community phylogenetics studies, however, are (i) low terminal phylogenetic resolution and (ii) arbitrarily defined species pools. We used three DNA barcodes (plastid DNA regions rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA) to infer a phylogeny for 527 native and naturalized trees of Puerto Rico, representing the vast majority of the entire tree flora of the island (89%). We used a maximum likelihood (ML) approach with and without a constraint tree that enforced monophyly of recognized plant orders. Based on 50% consensus trees, the ML analyses improved phylogenetic resolution relative to a comparable phylogeny generated with Phylomatic (proportion of internal nodes resolved: constrained ML = 74%, unconstrained ML = 68%, Phylomatic = 52%). We quantified the phylogenetic composition of 15 protected forests in Puerto Rico using the constrained ML and Phylomatic phylogenies. We found some evidence that tree communities in areas of high water stress were relatively phylogenetically clustered. Reducing the scale at which the species pool was defined (from island to soil types) changed some of our results depending on which phylogeny (ML vs. Phylomatic) was used. Overall, the increased terminal resolution provided by the ML phylogeny revealed additional patterns that were not observed with a less-resolved phylogeny. With the DNA barcode phylogeny presented here (based on an island-wide species pool), we show that a more fully resolved phylogeny increases power to detect nonrandom patterns of community composition in several Puerto Rican tree communities. Especially if combined with additional information on species functional traits and geographic distributions, this phylogeny will (i) facilitate stronger inferences about the role of historical processes in governing the assembly and composition of Puerto Rican forests, (ii) provide insight into Caribbean

  7. A century of avian research on USFS Experimental Forests and Ranges: Introduction to the special section on long-term avian research on Experimental Forests and Ranges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monica Tomosy; Scott H. Stoleson; David I. King

    2011-01-01

    In August of 2009 a symposium was convened at the 127th Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologist's Union in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the nationwide system of Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs) established by the US Forest Service in 1909. Fifteen scientists from across the United States and the Caribbean gathered...

  8. Drinking and Driving in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caetano, Raul; Vaeth, Patrice A C; Romano, Eduardo; Canino, Glorisa

    2018-01-09

    Epidemiological information is lacking for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in Puerto Rico. To examine the prevalence and correlates of DUI in Puerto Rico. Data are from a household sample of 1510 individuals, aged 18-64 years in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The response rate was 83%. The rate of 12 month self-reported DUI was 20% among men and 8% among women (p Puerto Rico was high, but the proportion of people arrested for DUI in a span of 12 months or during their lifetime was low. Stricter enforcement of DUI laws may be necessary to minimize DUI in urban Puerto Rico.

  9. Landslides and sediment budgets in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter F in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Matthew C.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.

    2012-01-01

    The low-latitude regions of the Earth are undergoing profound, rapid landscape change as forests are converted to agriculture to support growing population. Understanding the effects of these land-use changes requires analysis of watershed-scale geomorphic processes to better inform and manage this usually disorganized process. The investigation of hillslope erosion and the development of sediment budgets provides essential information for resource managers. Four small, montane, humid-tropical watersheds in the Luquillo Experimental Forest and nearby Río Grande de Loíza watershed, Puerto Rico (18° 20' N., 65° 45' W.), were selected to compare and contrast the geomorphic effects of land use and bedrock geology. Two of the watersheds are underlain largely by resistant Cretaceous volcaniclastic rocks but differ in land use and mean annual runoff: the Mameyes watershed, with predominantly primary forest cover and runoff of 2,750 millimeters per year, and the Canóvanas watershed, with mixed secondary forest and pasture and runoff of 970 millimeters per year. The additional two watersheds are underlain by relatively erodible granitic bedrock: the forested Icacos watershed, with runoff of 3,760 millimeters per year and the agriculturally developed Cayaguás watershed, with a mean annual runoff of 1,620 millimeters per year. Annual sediment budgets were estimated for each watershed using landslide, slopewash, soil creep, treethrow, suspended sediment, and streamflow data. The budgets also included estimates of sediment storage in channel beds, bars, floodplains, and in colluvial deposits. In the two watersheds underlain by volcaniclastic rocks, the forested Mameyes and the developed Canóvanas watersheds, landslide frequency (0.21 and 0.04 landslides per square kilometer per year, respectively), slopewash (5 and 30 metric tons per square kilometer per year), and suspended sediment yield (325 and 424 metric tons per square kilometer per year), were lower than in the

  10. An annotated bibliography of scientific literature on research and management activities conducted in Coram Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ilana Abrahamson; Katie Lyon

    2012-01-01

    The Coram Experimental Forest represents western larch-mixed conifer forests of the Northern Rockies. Western larch research was centered at Coram Experimental Forest (CEF) to provide a scientific basis to regenerate and grow this important and valuable species. For example, the long-term silvicultural studies installed at CEF are allowing researchers and managers to...

  11. Whole-ecosystem experimental manipulations of tropical forests

    OpenAIRE

    Fayle, Tom M; Turner, Edgar Clive; Basset, Yves; Ewers, Robert M; Reynolds, Glen; Novotny, Vojtech

    2015-01-01

    Tropical forests are highly diverse systems involving extraordinary numbers of interactions between species, with each species responding in a different way to the abiotic environment. Understanding how these systems function and predicting how they respond to anthropogenic global change is extremely challenging. We argue for the necessity of ‘whole-ecosystem’ experimental manipulations, in which the entire ecosystem is targeted, either to reveal the functioning of the...

  12. Looking back to move forward: collaborative planning to revise the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests land and resource management plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael J. Dockry

    2015-01-01

    The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (forest plans) form the basis for land and resource management of national forests in the United States. For more than a decade the Forest Service has been attempting...

  13. Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Thermo King de Puerto Rico Incorporated in Arecibo, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thermo King de Puerto Rico, Inc. facility is located in the Zeno Gandia Industrial Area in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Major features of the facility include six buildings used for manufacturing and storage, a wastewater treatment plant, a hazardous waste and no

  14. 40 CFR 131.40 - Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Puerto Rico 131.40 Section 131.40... Federally Promulgated Water Quality Standards § 131.40 Puerto Rico (a) Use designations for marine waters. In addition to the Commonwealth's adopted use designations, the following waterbodies in Puerto Rico...

  15. Estimating soil turnover rate from tree uprooting during hurricanes in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenart, M.T.; Falk, D.A.; Scatena, F.N.; Osterkamp, W.R.

    2010-01-01

    Soil turnover by tree uprooting in primary and secondary forests on the island of Puerto Rico was measured in 42 study plots in the months immediately after the passage of a Category 3 hurricane. Trunk basal area explained 61% of the variability of mound volume and 53% of the variability of mound area. The proportion of uprooted trees, the number of uprooted trees, or the proportion of uprooted basal area explained 84-85% of the variation in hurricane-created mound area. These same variables explain 79-85% of the variation in mound volume. The study indicates that the soil turnover period from tree uprooting by Puerto Rican hurricanes is between 1600 and 4800 years. These rates are faster than soil turnover by landslides and background treefall in the same area and provide a useful age constraint on soil profile development and soil carbon sequestration in these dynamic landscapes. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

  16. Aging in Puerto Rico: A Comparison of Health Status Among Island Puerto Rican and Mainland U.S. Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Catherine; Ailshire, Jennifer A

    2017-06-01

    To characterize the health status of older island Puerto Ricans, a segment of the U.S. population that has been largely overlooked in aging research. Data from the 2002 Puerto Rican Elderly Health Conditions Project and the 2002 Health and Retirement Study are used to examine differences in disease, disability, and self-rated health among island Puerto Ricans and the mainland U.S.-born older adult population. Differences are further examined by gender. Island Puerto Ricans were less likely to have heart disease, stroke, lung disease, cancer, activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, and poor self-rated health, but more likely to have hypertension and diabetes. Island Puerto Rican women had worse health relative to island Puerto Rican men. Recent challenges in the funding and provision of health care in Puerto Rico are worrisome given the large number of aging island adults, many of whom have hypertension and diabetes, two conditions that require long-term medical care.

  17. Cascading Effects of Canopy Opening and Debris Deposition from a Large-Scale Hurricane Experiment in a Tropical Rain Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaron B. Shiels; Grizelle Gonzalez; D. Jean Lodge; Michael R Willig; Jess K. Zimmerman

    2015-01-01

    Intense hurricanes disturb many tropical forests, but the key mechanisms driving post-hurricane forest changes are not fully understood. In Puerto Rico, we used a replicated factorial experiment to determine the mechanisms of forest change associated with canopy openness and organic matter (debris) addition. Cascading effects from canopy openness accounted for...

  18. Factors influencing storm-generated suspended-sediment concentrations and loads in four basins of contrasting land use, humid-tropical Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. C. Gellis; NO-VALUE

    2013-01-01

    The significant characteristics controlling the variability in storm-generated suspended-sediment loads and concentrations were analyzed for four basins of differing land use (forest, pasture, cropland, and urbanizing) in humid-tropical Puerto Rico. Statistical analysis involved stepwise regression on factor scores. The explanatory variables were attributes of flow,...

  19. Experimental evidence for a phylogenetic Janzen-Connell effect in a subtropical forest

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Liu, Xubing; Liang, Minxia; Etienne, Rampal S.; Wang, Yongfan; Staehelin, Christian; Yu, Shixiao

    Observational evidence increasingly suggests that the JanzenConnell effect extends beyond the species boundary. However, this has not been confirmed experimentally. Herein, we present both observational and experimental evidence for a phylogenetic JanzenConnell effect. In a subtropical forest in

  20. Land-cover composition, water resources and land management in the watersheds of the Luquillo Mountains, northeastern Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamara Heartsill Scalley; Tania del M. Lopez-Marrero

    2014-01-01

    An important element of the wise use of water-related ecosystem services provided by El Yunque National Forest, located in the Luquillo Mountains in northeastern Puerto Rico, is the facilitation of a clear understanding about the composition of land cover and its relation to water resources at different scales of analysis, management, and decision making. In this study...

  1. Tropical forest biomass and successional age class relationships to a vegetation index derived from Landsat TM data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sader, Steven A.; Waide, Robert B.; Lawrence, William T.; Joyce, Armond T.

    1989-01-01

    Forest stand structure and biomass data were collected using conventional forest inventory techniques in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate forest biomes. The feasibility of detecting tropical forest successional age class and total biomass differences using Landsat-Thematic mapper (TM) data, was evaluated. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) calculated from Landsat-TM data were not significantly correlated with forest regeneration age classes in the mountain terrain of the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. The low sun angle and shadows cast on steep north and west facing slopes reduced spectral reflectance values recorded by TM orbital altitude. The NDVI, calculated from low altitude aircraft scanner data, was significatly correlated with forest age classes. However, analysis of variance suggested that NDVI differences were not detectable for successional forests older than approximately 15-20 years. Also, biomass differences in young successional tropical forest were not detectable using the NDVI. The vegetation index does not appear to be a good predictor of stand structure variables (e.g., height, diameter of main stem) or total biomass in uneven age, mixed broadleaf forest. Good correlation between the vegetation index and low biomass in even age pine plantations were achieved for a warm temperate study site. The implications of the study for the use of NDVI for forest structure and biomass estimation are discussed.

  2. Louisiana’s Palustris Experimental Forest: 75 years of research that transformed the South

    Science.gov (United States)

    James P. Barnett; James D. Haywood; Henry A. Pearson

    2011-01-01

    The Palustris Experimental Forest, located on Kisatchie National Forest, has been in existence for 75 years. Research at Palustris has focused on southern pine reforestation technology, including seed production, bareroot nursery production, direct seeding, and planting container seedlings. After establishing pine plantations, researchers developed stand management...

  3. 27 CFR 26.126 - Taxpayment in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Taxpayment in Puerto Rico..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS LIQUORS AND ARTICLES FROM PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Liquors and Articles Purchased by Tourists in Puerto Rico § 26.126 Taxpayment in Puerto Rico. Liquors upon which all...

  4. Evolution of soil, ecosystem, and critical zone research at the USDA FS Calhoun Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel deB. Richter; Allan R. Bacon; Sharon A. Billings; Dan Binkley; Marilyn Buford; Mac Callaham; Amy E. Curry; Ryan L. Fimmen; A. Stuart Grandy; Paul R. Heine; Michael Hofmockel; Jason A. Jackson; Elisabeth LeMaster; Jianwei Li; Daniel Markewitz; Megan L. Mobley; Mary W. Morrison; Michael S. Strickland; Thomas Waldrop; Carol G. Wells

    2015-01-01

    The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Calhoun Experimental Forest was organized in 1947 on the southern Piedmont to engage in research that today is called restoration ecology, to improve soils, forests, and watersheds in a region that had been severely degraded by nearly 150 years farming. Today, this 2,050-ha research forest is managed by the Sumter...

  5. Feminist Therapy with Mainland Puerto Rican Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comas-Diaz, Lillian

    1987-01-01

    Discusses the use of feminist therapy with mainland Puerto Rican women, presenting clinical vignettes. Emphasizes the consideration of sociocultural context, including the experience of cross-cultural translocation, transculturation, the colonial background of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican sex roles, power issues and Puertorriquenas' sense of…

  6. 26 CFR 1.1402(a)-9 - Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 12 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Puerto Rico. 1.1402(a)-9 Section 1.1402(a)-9...) INCOME TAXES Tax on Self-Employment Income § 1.1402(a)-9 Puerto Rico. (a) Residents. A resident of Puerto... alien, a citizen of the United States, or a citizen of Puerto Rico, shall compute his net earnings from...

  7. Earthworm abundance and species composition in abandoned tropical croplands: comparisons of tree plantations and secondary forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    G. Gonzalez; X. Zou; S. Borges

    1996-01-01

    We compared patterns of earthworms abundance and species composition in tree plantation and secondary forest of Puerto Rico. Tree plantations included pine (Pinus caribea Morelet) and mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) established in the 1930's; 1960's; and 1970's; secondary forests were naturally regenerated in areas adjacent to these plantations. We...

  8. UNDERSTANDING THE PUERTO RICAN AND HIS FAMILY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    THOMAS MARIE, SISTER

    AN UNDERSTANDING OF TRADITIONAL PUERTO RICAN FAMILY CUSTOMS AND BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PUERTO RICAN AND OTHER LIFE STYLES SHOULD HELP PROFESSIONAL WORKERS SOLVE THE PROBLEMS CREATED BY MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES. THE CULTURE OF THE PUERTO RICAN CAN BE DESCRIBED IN RELATION TO THREE CONCEPTS--DIGNIDAD (SELF-ESTEEM OR SELF-WORTH), RESPETO…

  9. Puerto Rican Women as Workers and Writers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vazquez, Blanca, Ed.

    1989-01-01

    This theme issue of the "Centro Bulletin" highlights recent studies by and about employed Puerto Rican and Latina women. "La mujer en el Puerto Rico del siglo XIX" (O. Jimenez de Wagenheim), in Spanish, reviews the contributions of women to Puerto Rican economic, political, and social life during the nineteenth century.…

  10. Phylogenetic impoverishment of Amazonian tree communities in an experimentally fragmented forest landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Bráulio A; Tabarelli, Marcelo; Melo, Felipe P L; Camargo, José L C; Andrade, Ana; Laurance, Susan G; Laurance, William F

    2014-01-01

    Amazonian rainforests sustain some of the richest tree communities on Earth, but their ecological and evolutionary responses to human threats remain poorly known. We used one of the largest experimental datasets currently available on tree dynamics in fragmented tropical forests and a recent phylogeny of angiosperms to test whether tree communities have lost phylogenetic diversity since their isolation about two decades previously. Our findings revealed an overall trend toward phylogenetic impoverishment across the experimentally fragmented landscape, irrespective of whether tree communities were in 1-ha, 10-ha, or 100-ha forest fragments, near forest edges, or in continuous forest. The magnitude of the phylogenetic diversity loss was low (phylogenetic diversity, we observed a significant decrease of 50% in phylogenetic dispersion since forest isolation, irrespective of plot location. Analyses based on tree genera that have significantly increased (28 genera) or declined (31 genera) in abundance and basal area in the landscape revealed that increasing genera are more phylogenetically related than decreasing ones. Also, the loss of phylogenetic diversity was greater in tree communities where increasing genera proliferated and decreasing genera reduced their importance values, suggesting that this taxonomic replacement is partially underlying the phylogenetic impoverishment at the landscape scale. This finding has clear implications for the current debate about the role human-modified landscapes play in sustaining biodiversity persistence and key ecosystem services, such as carbon storage. Although the generalization of our findings to other fragmented tropical forests is uncertain, it could negatively affect ecosystem productivity and stability and have broader impacts on coevolved organisms.

  11. Cost, performance, and esthetic impacts of an experimental forest road in Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rulon B. Gardner

    1978-01-01

    An experimental logging road designed to minimize environmental and esthetic impact was constructed in northwest Montana. The road was single-lane (14-foot finished surface, 3-foot ditch), constructed along the contour. Esthetically, the single-lane experimental road was judged far superior to existing roads on the forest.

  12. Former land-use and tree species affect nitrogen oxide emissions from a tropical dry forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heather Erickson; Eric A. Davidson; Michael Keller

    2002-01-01

    Species composition in successional dry forests in the tropics varies widely, but the effect of this variation on biogeochemical processes is not well known. We examined fluxes of N oxides (nitrous and nitric oxide), soil N cycling, and litter chemistry (C/N ratio) in four successional dry forests on similar soils in western Puerto Rico with differing species...

  13. Some observations on precipitation measurement on forested experimental watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raymond E. Leonard; Kenneth G. Reinhart

    1963-01-01

    Measurement of precipitation on forested experimental watersheds presents difficulties other than those associated with access to and from the gages in all kinds of weather. For instance, the tree canopy must be cleared above the gage. The accepted practice of keeping an unobstructed sky view of 45" around the gage involves considerable tree cutting. On a level...

  14. Invasive cancer incidence - Puerto Rico, 2007-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neil, Mary Elizabeth; Henley, S Jane; Singh, Simple D; Wilson, Reda J; Ortiz-Ortiz, Karen J; Ríos, Naydi Pérez; Torres Cintrón, Carlos R; Luna, Guillermo Tortolero; Zavala Zegarra, Diego E; Ryerson, A Blythe

    2015-04-17

    Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and death in Puerto Rico. To set a baseline for identifying new trends and patterns of cancer incidence, Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry staff and CDC analyzed data from Puerto Rico included in U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS) for 2007-2011, the most recent data available. This is the first report of invasive cancer incidence rates for 2007-2011 among Puerto Rican residents by sex, age, cancer site, and municipality. Cancer incidence rates in Puerto Rico were compared with those in the U.S. population for 2011. A total of 68,312 invasive cancers were diagnosed and reported in Puerto Rico during 2007-2011. The average annual incidence rate was 330 cases per 100,000 persons. The cancer sites with the highest cancer incidence rates included prostate (152), female breast (84), and colon and rectum (43). Cancer incidence rates varied by municipality, particularly for prostate, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum cancers. In 2011, cancer incidence rates in Puerto Rico were lower for all cancer sites and lung and bronchus, but higher for prostate and thyroid cancers, compared with rates within the U.S. Identifying these variations can aid evaluation of factors associated with high incidence, such as cancer screening practices, and development of targeted cancer prevention and control efforts. Public health professionals can monitor cancer incidence trends and use these findings to evaluate the impact of prevention efforts, such as legislation prohibiting tobacco use in the workplace and public places and the Puerto Rico Cessation Quitline in decreasing lung and other tobacco-related cancers.

  15. Revisiting Pearson's climate and forest type studies on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest (P-53)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph E. Crouse; Margaret M. Moore; Peter Z. Fule

    2008-01-01

    Five weather station sites were established in 1916 by Fort Valley personnel along an elevational gradient from the Experimental Station to near the top of the San Francisco Peaks to investigate the factors that controlled and limited forest types. The stations were located in the ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, limber pine, Engelmann spruce, and Engelmann spruce/...

  16. Human dynamics and forest management: a baseline assessment of the socioeconomic characteristics of the region surrounding the El Yunque National Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kathleen McGinley

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, I examine the socioeconomic dynamics and human–environment interactions in the region surrounding the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF) in northeastern Puerto Rico and their implications for policy development and sustainable resource use. As part of a larger, comprehensive assessment of the conditions and trends of the EYNF and broader region, I...

  17. Breast Cancer Epidemiology in Puerto Rico

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Nazario, Cruz M; Freudenheim, Jo

    2008-01-01

    This project has two mayor goals: to design and conduct a pilot case-control breast cancer study among Puerto Rican women, and to train and develop researchers in breast cancer at the University of Puerto Rico...

  18. La ciencia del tabaco en Puerto Rico, 1900-1940

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Levy, Teresita

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Tobacco became an important export product in Puerto Rico after the American occupation of 1898, in large part, because of investments in the scientific study of tobacco: its efficient cultivation, its economic structure and its marketing. Scientific experimentation and the practical application of research findings in tobacco farms provided an arena for significant collaborative relationships between tobacco growers, scientists in Puerto Rico and the U.S., and the insular and federal governments. The involvement of Puerto Ricans in the science of tobacco, including their support of scientific inquiry, their continued demands for funding and beneficial agricultural legislation, and their adoption of modern agricultural technology, demonstrate that rather than being observers of rapid economic changes, they were activists, using the democratic guarantees available under the U.S. colonial structure to improve their economic situation.El tabaco se convirtió en un importante producto de exportación para Puerto Rico después de la ocupación norteamericana de 1898, debido a las inversiones en su estudio científico: el cultivo eficiente, la estructura económica y el mercadeo. La experimentación científica y la aplicación práctica de los descubrimientos en las fincas tabacaleras ofrecieron un campo de saber para establecer relaciones cooperativas significativas entre los cultivadores, los científicos en Puerto Rico y EEUU, y el gobierno insular y federal. El compromiso de los puertorriqueños en la ciencia del tabaco, incluyendo su apoyo por la investigación, las demandas continuas para fondos y una legislación agrícola beneficiosa, así como la adopción de la tecnología agrícola moderna, demuestra que éstos no eran pasivos frente a los rápidos cambios económicos de entonces. Por el contrario, ellos eran activistas políticos, usando las garantías democráticas disponibles dentro de la estructura colonial de los EEUU para mejorar su

  19. Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.; Contributions by Buss, Heather L.; Gould, William A.; Larsen, Matthew C.; Liu, Zhigang; Martinuzzi, Sebastian; Pares-Ramos, Isabel K.; White, Arthur F.; Zou, Xiaoming

    2012-01-01

    Humid tropical regions occupy about a quarter of Earth's land surface, yet they contribute a substantially higher fraction of the water, solutes, and sediment discharged to the world's oceans. Nearly half of Earth's population lives in the tropics, and development stresses can potentially harm soil resources, water quality, and water supply and in addition increase landslide and flood hazards. Owing to Puerto Rico's steep topography, low water storage capacity, and dependence on trade-wind precipitation, the island's people, ecosystems, and water supply are vulnerable to extreme weather such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Eastern Puerto Rico offers a natural laboratory for separating geologic and land-cover influences from regional- and global-scale influences because of its various bedrock types and the changing land cover surrounding intact, mature forest of the Luquillo Experimental Forest. Accordingly, a multiyear assessment of hydrological and biogeochemical processes was designed to develop an understanding of the effects of these differences on local climate, streamflow, water quality, and ecosystems, and to form the basis for a long-term and event-based program of climate and hydrologic monitoring. Because infrequent, large storms play a major role in this landscape, we focused on high-runoff events, sampling 263 storms, including all major hurricanes from 1991 through 2005. The largest storms have profound geomorphic consequences, such as landslides, debris flows, deep gullying on deforested lands, excavation and suspension of sediment in stream channels, and delivery of a substantial fraction of annual stream sediment load. Large storms sometimes entrain ocean foam and spray causing high concentrations of seasalt-derived constituents in stream waters during the storm. Past deforestation and agricultural activities in the Cayaguás and Canóvanas watersheds accelerated erosion and soil loss, and this material continues to be remobilized during large

  20. 78 FR 20887 - Approval of Subzone Status; Pepsi Cola Puerto Rico Distributing, LLC, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [S-132-2012] Approval of Subzone Status; Pepsi Cola Puerto Rico Distributing, LLC, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico On December 7, 2012, the Executive Secretary... activation limit of FTZ 7, on [[Page 20888

  1. Plan estratégico del Puerto de Paita

    OpenAIRE

    Dávila Salazar, Javier Erwin; Morales Dávila, Eric Rubén; Pomar Hachimine, Cecilia Sofía; Santos Conde, Alina Liliana

    2016-01-01

    xix, 252 h. : il. ; 30 cm El presente estudio desarrolla el Plan Estratégico del Puerto de Paita con el objetivo de lograr posicionarlo dentro de los principales 25 puertos de contenedores de Latinoamérica. Los análisis realizados en base al modelo secuencial del proceso estratégico revelan que el puerto tiene importantes ventajas comparativas y competitivas que generan estrategias de tipo intensiva y de diversificación, cuya aplicación convertirá al Puerto de Paita en el principal eslabón...

  2. Limited native plant regeneration in novel, exotic-dominated forests on Hawaii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph Mascaro; Kristen K. Becklund; R. Flint Hughes; Stefan A. Schnitzer

    2008-01-01

    Ecological invasions are amajor driver of global environmental change. When invasions are frequent and prolonged, exotic species can become dominant and ultimately create novel ecosystem types. These ecosystems are now widespread globally. Recent evidence from Puerto Rico suggests that exoticdominated forests can provide suitable regeneration sites for native species...

  3. Los insectos de Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.A. Torres; S. Medina Gaud

    1998-01-01

    This paper is a brief summary of the natural history and importance of the insects of Puerto Rico. We briefly discuss the orders of insects present in Puerto Rico and some of their families. Where possible, we have tried to avoid technical terms for better comprehension of a general audience. We present the observations or characteristics of insects that humans admire...

  4. Effect of DEM resolution on rainfall-triggered landslide modeling within a triangulated network-based model. A case study in the Luquillo Forest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnone, E.; Dialynas, Y. G.; Noto, L. V.; Bras, R. L.

    2013-12-01

    Catchment slope distribution is one of the topographic characteristics that significantly control rainfall-triggered landslide modeling, in both direct and indirect ways. Slope directly determines the soil volume associated with instability. Indirectly slope also affects the subsurface lateral redistribution of soil moisture across the basin, which in turn determines the water pore pressure conditions that impact slope stability. In this study, we investigate the influence of DEM resolution on slope stability and the slope stability analysis by using a distributed eco-hydrological and landslide model, the tRIBS-VEGGIE (Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator - VEGetation Generator for Interactive Evolution). The model implements a triangulated irregular network to describe the topography, and it is capable of evaluating vegetation dynamics and predicting shallow landslides triggered by rainfall. The impact of DEM resolution on the landslide prediction was studied using five TINs derived from five grid DEMs at different resolutions, i.e. 10, 20, 30, 50 and 70 m respectively. The analysis was carried out on the Mameyes Basin, located in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico, where previous landslide analyses have been carried out. Results showed that the use of the irregular mesh reduced the loss of accuracy in the derived slope distribution when coarser resolutions were used. The impact of the different resolutions on soil moisture patterns was important only when the lateral redistribution was considerable, depending on hydrological properties and rainfall forcing. In some cases, the use of different DEM resolutions did not significantly affect tRIBS-VEGGIE landslide output, in terms of landslide locations, and values of slope and soil moisture at failure.

  5. Checklist of vertebrate animals of the Cascade Head Experimental Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chris Maser; Jerry F. Franklin

    1974-01-01

    Three months, April and August 1971 and August 1972, were spent studying the vertebrate fauna of Cascade Head Experimental Forest. The resulting annotated checklist includes 9 amphibians, 2 reptiles, 35 birds, and 40 mammals. A standardized animal habitat classification is presented in an effort to correlate the vertebrates in some meaningful way to their environment...

  6. A Chronological History of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tovar, Federico Ribes

    This book presents a chronological history of Puerto Rico from prehistory and discovery through December of 1972. It includes information on the persons and events that influenced the course of Puerto Rican history. A table of contents and a selective index are included. (Author/AM)

  7. Eastern hemlock response to even- and uneven-age management in the Acadian forest: results from the Penobscot Experimental Forest long-term silviculture study

    Science.gov (United States)

    John C. Brissette; Laura S. Kenefic

    2000-01-01

    Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) is an important tree species in the mixed-species conifer forests of northern New England and adjacent Canada. Hemlock is very tolerant of understory conditions; consequently, it responds differently to various silvicultural treatments. In a long-term study at the Penobscot Experimental Forest in east-...

  8. Trees and shrubs of the Bartlett Experimental Forest, Carroll County, New Hampshire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanley M. Filip; Elbert L., Jr. Little; Elbert L. Little

    1971-01-01

    Sixty-five species of trees and shrubs have been identified as native on the Bartlett Experimental Forest. These species are listed in this paper to provide a record of the woody vegetation of the area.

  9. The Puerto Rico Healthcare Crisis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roman, Jesse

    2015-12-01

    The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an organized nonincorporated territory of the United States with a population of more than 3.5 million U.S. citizens. The island has been the focus of much recent attention due to the recent default on its debt (estimated at more than $70 billion), high poverty rates, and increasing unemployment. Less attention, however, has been given to the island's healthcare system, which many believe is on the verge of collapsing. Healthcare makes up 20% of the Puerto Rican economy, and this crisis affects reimbursement rates for physicians while promoting the disintegration of the island's healthcare infrastructure. A major contributor relates to a disparity in federal funding provided to support the island's healthcare system when compared with that provided to the states in the mainland and Hawaii. Puerto Rico receives less federal funding for healthcare than the other 50 states and the District of Columbia even though it pays its share of social security and Medicare taxes. To make matters worse, the U.S. Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services is planning soon to implement another 11% cut in Medical Advantage reimbursements. This disparity in support for healthcare is considered responsible for ∼$25 billion of Puerto Rico's total debt. The impact of these events on the health of Puerto Ricans in the island cannot be entirely predicted, but the loss of healthcare providers and diminished access to care are a certainty, and quality care will suffer, leading to serious implications for those with chronic medical disorders including respiratory disease.

  10. Mapping tropical dry forest habitats integrating landsat NDVI, Ikonos imagery, and topographic information in the Caribbean island of Mona.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinuzzi, Sebastiáin; Gould, William A; Ramos Gonzalez, Olga M; Martinez Robles, Alma; Calle Maldonado, Paulina; Pérez-Buitrago, Néstor; Fumero Caban, José J

    2008-06-01

    Assessing the status of tropical dry forest habitats using remote sensing technologies is one of the research priorities for Neotropical forests. We developed a simple method for mapping vegetation and habitats in a tropical dry forest reserve, Mona Island, Puerto Rico, by integrating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat, topographic information, and high-resolution Ikonos imagery. The method was practical for identifying vegetation types in areas with a great variety of plant communities and complex relief, and can be adapted to other dry forest habitats of the Caribbean Islands. NDVI was useful for identifying the distribution of forests, woodlands, and shrubland, providing a natural representation of the vegetation patterns on the island. The use of Ikonos imagery allowed increasing the number of land cover classes. As a result, sixteen land-cover types were mapped over the 5500 ha area, with a kappa coefficient of accuracy equal to 79%. This map is a central piece for modeling vertebrate species distribution and biodiversity patterns by the Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project, and it is of great value for assisting research and management actions in the island.

  11. Puerto Rican Women in International Business: Myths and Realities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maritza Soto

    1999-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to study Puerto Rican women in international management, specifically with respect to the perceptions and myths regarding their participation in international assignments, their application in our culture, as well as, to study the factors that affect the participation of Puerto Rican women in international business. The results obtained indicate: 1 the current myths regarding Puerto Rican women in international business positions; 2 factors that influence when considering Puerto Rican women for international business positions and; 3 organizational units and departments where women currently hold positions in international assignments. Although there have been previous studies regarding women in management, there are none regarding Puerto Rican women's participation in international business assignments.

  12. Avian response to shade‐layer restoration in coffee plantations in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irizarry, Amarilys D.; Collazo, Jaime A.; Pacifici, Krishna; Reich, Brian J.; Battle, Kathryn E.

    2018-01-01

    Documenting the evolving processes associated with habitat restoration and how long it takes to detect avian demographic responses is crucial to evaluate the success of restoration initiatives and to identify ways to improve their effectiveness. The importance of this endeavor prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to evaluate their sun‐to‐shade coffee restoration program in Puerto Rico initiated in 2003. We quantified the responses of 12 resident avian species using estimates of local occupancy and extinction probabilities based on surveys conducted in 2015–2017 at 65 restored farms grouped according to time‐since‐initial‐restoration (TSIR): new (2011–2014), intermediate (2007–2010), and old (2003–2006). We also surveyed 40 forest sites, which served as reference sites. Vegetation complexity increased with TSIR, ranging between 35 and 40% forest cover in farms 6–9 years TSIR. Forest specialists (e.g. Loxigilla portoricencis) exhibited highest average occupancy in farms initially classified as intermediate (6–9 years) and old (>10 years), paralleling occupancy in secondary forests. Occupancy of open‐habitat specialists (e.g. Tiaris olivaceus) was more variable, but higher in recently restored farms. Restoring the shade layer has the potential to heighten ecological services derived from forest specialists (e.g. frugivores) without losing the services of many open‐habitat specialists (e.g. insectivores). Annual local extinction probability for forest specialists decreased with increasing habitat complexity, strengthening the potential value of shade restoration as a tool to enhance habitat for avifauna that evolved in forested landscapes.

  13. The Impact of Hurricane Maria on the Vegetation of Dominica and Puerto Rico Using Multispectral Remote Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tangao Hu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available As the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica and Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria in September 2017 had a large impact on the vegetation of these islands. In this paper, multitemporal Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2 data are used to investigate vegetation damage on Dominica and Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria, and related influencing factors are analyzed. Moreover, the changes in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI in the year 2017 are compared to reference years (2015 and 2016. The results show that (1 there is a sudden drop in NDVI values after Hurricane Maria’s landfall (decreased about 0.2 which returns to near normal vegetation after 1.5 months; (2 different land cover types have different sensitivities to Hurricane Maria, whereby forest is the most sensitive type, then followed by wetland, built-up, and natural grassland; and (3 for Puerto Rico, the vegetation damage is highly correlated with distance from the storm center and elevation. For Dominica, where the whole island is within Hurricane Maria’s radius of maximum wind, the vegetation damage has no obvious relationship to elevation or distance. The study provides insight into the sensitivity and recovery of vegetation after a major land-falling hurricane, and may lead to improved vegetation protection strategies.

  14. 33 CFR 165.755 - Safety Zone; Guayanilla, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Zone; Guayanilla, Puerto Rico (a) The following area is established as a safety zone during the... the Eco-Electrica waterfront facility in Guayanilla Bay, Puerto Rico. The safety zone remains in... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Safety Zone; Guayanilla, Puerto...

  15. Technology transfer: taking science from the books to the ground at Bent Creek Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Julia Kirschman

    2014-01-01

    Technology transfer has been an important part of the research program at Bent Creek Experimental Forest (Bent Creek) since its establishment in 1925. Our stated mission is to develop and disseminate knowledge and strategies for restoring, managing, sustaining, and enhancing the vegetation and wildlife of upland hardwood-dominated forest ecosystems of the Southern...

  16. LBA-ECO LC-02 Forest Flammability Data, Catuaba Experimental Farm, Acre, Brazil: 1998

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set provides the results of controlled burns conducted to assess the flammability of mature forests on the Catuaba Experimental Farm of the Federal...

  17. LBA-ECO LC-02 Forest Flammability Data, Catuaba Experimental Farm, Acre, Brazil: 1998

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set provides the results of controlled burns conducted to assess the flammability of mature forests on the Catuaba Experimental Farm of the...

  18. Responses of Two Litter-Based Invertebrate Communities to Changes in Canopy Cover in a Forest Subject to Hurricanes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbara Richardson; Michael Richardson; Grizelle González

    2018-01-01

    Tropical forests are subject to seasonal hurricanes resulting in cycles of canopy opening and deposition of litter, followed by periods of recovery and canopy closure. Herein, we review two studies of litter-based communities in Puerto Rico; (i) a survey of bromeliad invertebrates in three montane forest types along an elevational gradient in 1993–1997, during a period...

  19. Human uses of forested watersheds and riparian corridors: hazard mitigation as an ecosystem service, with examples from Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, M. C.

    2015-12-01

    Humans have long favored settlement along rivers for access to water supply for drinking and agriculture, for transport corridors, and for food sources. Additionally, settlement in or near montane forests include benefits such as food sources, wood supply, esthetic values, and high quality water resources derived from watersheds where upstream human disturbance and environmental degradation is generally reduced. However, the advantages afforded by these riparian and montane settings pose episodic risks for communities located there as floods, landslides, and wildfires cause loss of life, destroy infrastructure, and damage or destroy crops. A basic understanding of flood probability and magnitude as well as hillslope stability by residents in these environments can mitigate these risks. Early humans presumably developed some degree of knowledge about these risks by means of their long periods of occupation in these environments and their observations of seasonal and storm rainfall patterns and river discharge, which became more refined as agriculture developed over the past 10,000 years. Modern global urbanization, particularly in regions of rapid economic growth, has resulted in much of this "organic" knowledge being lost, as rural populations move into megacities, many of which encroach on floodplains and mountain fronts. Moreover, the most likely occupants of these hazardous locations are often economically constrained, increasing their vulnerabity. Effective stewardship of river floodplains and upstream montane forests yields a key ecosystem service, which in addition to the well-known services, ie. water, hydroelectric energy, etc., provides a risk mitigation service, by reducing hazard and vulnerability. Puerto Rico, Panama, and Venezuela illustrate a range of practices and results, providing useful examples for planners and land use managers.

  20. Management of pest mole crickets in Florida and Puerto Rico with a nematode and parasitic wasp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leppla, N.C.; Frank, J.H.; Adjei, M.B.; Vicente, N.E.

    2007-01-01

    Non-indigenous invasive mole crickets, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) in Florida and S. didactylus (Latreille) (the 'changa') in Puerto Rico, are being managed with an entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema scapterisci (Nguyen and Smart) (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae), and a parasitic wasp, Larra bicolor L. (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Pest mole cricket populations have declined by 95% in north central Florida since these specialist natural enemies were released and established in the 1980s. Commercial production of the nematode was initiated, nearly 70 billion were applied in 34 Florida counties, and their establishment, spread, and impact on mole crickets were monitored. The infected mole crickets dispersed the nematode rapidly, so that within 6 months these parasites were present in most of the insects trapped in experimental pastures. Three years later, mole cricket populations were reduced to acceptable levels and the bahiagrass had recovered. The nematode was released for the first time in Puerto Rico during 2001 and has persisted; the wasp was introduced in the late 1930s. The geographical distribution of the wasp is being expanded in Florida and Puerto Rico by planting plots of Spermacoce verticillata (L.), a wildflower indigenous to Puerto Rico and widely distributed in southern Florida. Pastures, sod farms, golf courses, landscapes, and vegetable farms in Florida and Puerto Rico are benefiting from biological control of invasive mole crickets. (author) [es

  1. Thermoluminescence dosimetry in Northwest Puerto Rico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Block, A.M.; Clements, R.G.; Rosa, L.I.; Santos, F.

    1975-01-01

    In October, 1973, the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority sought the initiation of studies aimed at determining background radiological characteristics of the northwestern quadrant of Puerto Rico using thermoluminescent dosemeters. Some of the studies were required for supporting data for the environmental report submitted as part of the licensing procedure in the establishment of thermonuclear electric power generation facilities in Barrio Islote, Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Previous studies of radiological characteristics of the area had been made using sodium iodide sensing equipment in an airplane flying at an altitude of 500 ft. The results are expressed in counts per second, and provide useful comparative levels for radioactivity measured with the thermoluminescent detectors. (U.S.)

  2. Transformaciones alimentarias en Puerto Vallarta, México Mudancas alimentares em Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Ávila

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Puerto Vallarta está situada na costa meridional do Pacífico mexicano, destino turístico considerado de grande prestígio. Além disso, é também reconhecida pela sua qualidade de sua cozinha, vista como gourmet. Entretanto, a alta gastronomia é apenas uma parte da vasta diversidade de culinárias que se oferecem nessa cidade-porto, um resultado das profundas mudanças sociais ali transcorridas nas últimas três décadas. O texto oferece uma breve explanação da introdução e evolução de alguns usos alimentares em Puerto Vallarta, expondo também uma articulação com o contexto local, analisando o abastecimento, a composição alimentar e seus ritmos. Nesse sentido, questiona-se a existência de um modelo alimentar local justaposto às fortes influências exógenas e que teria poucos vínculos com uma possível identidade cultural da população local.Puerto Vallarta, located on the Mexican Pacific coast, is now a prestigious tourist destination. It is also considered a venue for gourmet cooks, due to the elaborate variety of gastronomy available. Nevertheless, what meets the eye is only part of a motley crowd of culinary possibilities that emerge simultaneously in this port, which in turn are the result of the giddy social change of the last three decades. The following text gives a brief explanation of the historic evolution of Puerto Vallarta regarding the introduction of different culinary traditions; it explores the perceptions of local inhabitants of these gastronomic innovations; these perceptions are duly related to a supposed local cultural ethos; and finally it proposes that the juxtaposition of what is on offer gastronomically is an extension of certain ‘food models’ and the development of a new socio-cultural identity.Situado en la costa meridional del Pacífico mexicano, Puerto Vallarta es un sitio turístico prestigiado, y es también considerado un destino de cocina gourmet. Sin embargo, la alta gastronomía es s

  3. Detailed forest formation mapping in the land cover map series for the Caribbean islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helmer, E. H.; Schill, S.; Pedreros, D. H.; Tieszen, L. L.; Kennaway, T.; Cushing, M.; Ruzycki, T.

    2006-12-01

    Forest formation and land cover maps for several Caribbean islands were developed from Landsat ETM+ imagery as part of a multi-organizational project. The spatially explicit data on forest formation types will permit more refined estimates of some forest attributes. The woody vegetation classification scheme relates closely to that of Areces-Malea et al. (1), who classify Caribbean vegetation according to standards of the US Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC, 1997), with modifications similar to those in Helmer et al. (2). For several of the islands, we developed image mosaics that filled cloudy parts of scenes with data from other scene dates after using regression tree normalization (3). The regression tree procedure permitted us to develop mosaics for wet and drought seasons for a few of the islands. The resulting multiseason imagery facilitated separation between classes such as seasonal evergreen forest, semi-deciduous forest (including semi-evergreen forest), and drought deciduous forest or woodland formations. We used decision tree classification methods to classify the Landsat image mosaics to detailed forest formations and land cover for Puerto Rico (4), St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. The decision trees classified a stack of raster layers for each mapping area that included the Landsat image bands and various ancillary raster data layers. For Puerto Rico, for example, the ancillary data included climate parameters (5). For some islands, the ancillary data included topographic derivatives such as aspect, slope and slope position, SRTM (6) or other topographic data. Mapping forest formations with decision tree classifiers, ancillary geospatial data, and cloud-free image mosaics, accurately distinguished spectrally similar forest formations, without the aid of ecological zone maps, on the islands where the approach was used. The approach resulted in maps of forest formations with comparable or better detail

  4. 29 CFR 510.20 - Wage surveys in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MINIMUM WAGE PROVISIONS OF THE 1989 AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT IN PUERTO... qualify for an extended minimum wage phase-in, the government of Puerto Rico would be required to furnish... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Wage surveys in Puerto Rico. 510.20 Section 510.20 Labor...

  5. The green areas of San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga M. Ramos-González

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Green areas, also known as green infrastructure or urban vegetation, are vital to urbanites for their critical roles in mitigating urban heat island effects and climate change and for their provision of multiple ecosystem services and aesthetics. Here, I provide a high spatial resolution snapshot of the green cover distribution of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, by incorporating the use of morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA as a tool to describe the spatial pattern and connectivity of the city's urban green areas. Analysis of a previously developed IKONOS 4-m spatial resolution classification of the city of San Juan from 2002 revealed a larger area of vegetation (green areas or green infrastructure than previously estimated by moderate spatial resolution imagery. The city as a whole had approximately 42% green cover and 55% impervious surfaces. Although the city appeared greener in its southern upland sector compared to the northern coastal section, where most built-up urban areas occurred (66% impervious surfaces, northern San Juan had 677 ha more green area cover dispersed across the city than the southern component. MSPA revealed that most forest cover occurred as edges and cores, and green areas were most commonly forest cores, with larger predominance in the southern sector of the municipality. In dense, built-up, urban land, most of the green areas occurred in private yards as islets. When compared to other cities across the United States, San Juan was most similar in green cover features to Boston, Massachusetts, and Miami, Florida. Per capita green space for San Juan (122.2 m²/inhabitant was also comparable to these two U.S. cities. This study explores the intra-urban vegetation variation in the city of San Juan, which is generally overlooked by moderate spatial resolution classifications in Puerto Rico. It serves as a starting point for green infrastructure mapping and landscape pattern analysis of the urban green spaces

  6. Sexual Prejudice among Puerto Rican young adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauermeister, José A.; Morales, Mercedes M.; Seda, Gretchen; González-Rivera, Milagritos

    2014-01-01

    Sexual prejudice is linked to hate crimes, mental health, risk behaviors, and stigma. Few studies have examined sexual prejudice among Latinos. We surveyed 382 college students in Puerto Rico. A structural model tested whether contact and positive experiences with homosexuals, perceived similarities with peers' attitudes toward homosexuality, and religiosity were predictive of sexual prejudice among Puerto Rican young adults. Sex differences in the structural model were explored. With the exception of peers' attitudes toward homosexuality, all study variables predict sexual prejudice. No sex differences were found. Implications for decreasing sexual prejudice among Puerto Rican youth in a college setting are discussed. PMID:18689195

  7. Structural characterization of the gallery forest of the Guisa Agroforestry Experimental Station

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Luis Rodríguez Sosa

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The work was carried out in the gallery forest of the Cupaynicú stream, belonging to the Guisa Agroforestry Experimental Station, with the objective of characterizing its structure. Eight parcels of 500 m2 were randomly raised, in them the species were identified, their height and diameter were measured. The flora was analyzed through the origin of the species and the frequency histogram. The structure of the forest was analyzed through the diametric structure and the Value Index of Ecological Importance, the vertical structure was described taking into consideration the forest strata as well as the preparation of the canopy diagram. A descriptive analysis of the parameters diameter, height and basal area was made to study the parametric structure. The richness of the riparian forest was evidenced by the registry of 25 families, 40 genera and 43 species, as well as the predominance of the Meliaceae family followed by Lauraceae, Mimosaceae and Sapindaceae, which reflects the high timber value, melliferous and ecological of the same. The species Roystonea regia, Sterculiaapetala, Dendropanaxarboreus, Andirainermis and Mangifera indica, determine the physiognomy of the gallery Forest. The trees reach 33 cm in diameter and 18.27 m in height on average, although the presence of trees with 30 m is the most frequent, which denotes the irregular structure of the forest.

  8. An annotated bibliography of scientific literature on research and management activities conducted in Manitou Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ilana Abrahamson

    2012-01-01

    The Manitou Experimental Forest (MEF) is part of the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Established in 1936, its early research focused on range and watershed management. Currently, the site is home to several meteorological, ecological and biological research initiatives. Our collaborators include the University of Colorado, Colorado State University...

  9. Diameter growth performance of tree functional groups in Puerto Rican secondary tropical forests

    OpenAIRE

    Adame, Patricia; Brandeis, Thomas J; Uriarte, Maria

    2014-01-01

    Aim of study: Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Yet, the high species diversity of mixed tropical forests, including many uncommon sp...

  10. Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Bluff Experimental Forest, Warren County, Mississippi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert L. Johnson; Elbert L. Little

    1967-01-01

    Nearly 100 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines grow naturally on the 450-acre Bluff Experimental Forest in west-central Mississippi. This publication lists the plants and provides information on silvical characteristics of the tree species.

  11. Pharmacogenetics of healthy volunteers in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claudio-Campos, Karla; Orengo-Mercado, Carmelo; Renta, Jessicca Y.; Peguero, Muriel; García, Ricardo; Hernández, Gabriel; Corey, Susan; Cadilla, Carmen L.; Duconge, Jorge

    2016-01-01

    Puerto Ricans are a unique Hispanic population with European, Native American (Taino), and higher West African ancestral contributions than other non-Caribbean Hispanics. In admixed populations, such as Puerto Ricans, genetic variants can be found at different frequencies when compared to parental populations and uniquely combined and distributed. Therefore, in this review, we aimed to collect data from studies conducted in healthy Puerto Ricans and to report the frequencies of genetic polymorphisms with major relevance in drug response. Filtering for healthy volunteers or individuals, we performed a search of pharmacogenetic studies in academic literature databases without limiting the period of the results. The search was limited to Puerto Ricans living in the island, excluding those studies performed in mainland (United States). We found that the genetic markers impacting pharmacological therapy in the areas of cardiovascular, oncology, and neurology are the most frequently investigated. Coincidently, the top causes of mortality in the island are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke. In addition, polymorphisms in genes that encode for members of the CYP450 family (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2D6) are also available due to their relevance in the metabolism of drugs. The complex genetic background of Puerto Ricans is responsible for the divergence in the reported allele frequencies when compared to parental populations (Africans, East Asians, and Europeans). The importance of reporting the findings of pharmacogenetic studies conducted in Puerto Ricans is to identify genetic variants with potential utility among this genetically complex population and eventually move forward the adoption of personalized medicine in the island. PMID:26501165

  12. Pharmacogenetics of healthy volunteers in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claudio-Campos, Karla; Orengo-Mercado, Carmelo; Renta, Jessicca Y; Peguero, Muriel; García, Ricardo; Hernández, Gabriel; Corey, Susan; Cadilla, Carmen L; Duconge, Jorge

    2015-12-01

    Puerto Ricans are a unique Hispanic population with European, Native American (Taino), and higher West African ancestral contributions than other non-Caribbean Hispanics. In admixed populations, such as Puerto Ricans, genetic variants can be found at different frequencies when compared to parental populations and uniquely combined and distributed. Therefore, in this review, we aimed to collect data from studies conducted in healthy Puerto Ricans and to report the frequencies of genetic polymorphisms with major relevance in drug response. Filtering for healthy volunteers or individuals, we performed a search of pharmacogenetic studies in academic literature databases without limiting the period of the results. The search was limited to Puerto Ricans living in the island, excluding those studies performed in mainland (United States). We found that the genetic markers impacting pharmacological therapy in the areas of cardiovascular, oncology, and neurology are the most frequently investigated. Coincidently, the top causes of mortality in the island are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. In addition, polymorphisms in genes that encode for members of the CYP450 family (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2D6) are also available due to their relevance in the metabolism of drugs. The complex genetic background of Puerto Ricans is responsible for the divergence in the reported allele frequencies when compared to parental populations (Africans, East Asians, and Europeans). The importance of reporting the findings of pharmacogenetic studies conducted in Puerto Ricans is to identify genetic variants with potential utility among this genetically complex population and eventually move forward the adoption of personalized medicine in the island.

  13. Post-1898 Imaginative Geographies: Puerto Rico Migration in 1950s Film

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cynthia Tolentino

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This essay studies cultural representations of Puerto Rico’s economic boom and 1952 shift in legal status to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It suggests that apprehending these events requires the reframing of Puerto Rican migration as global phenomena. Drawing on the historical and cultural scholarship on Puerto Rican migration, Operation Bootstrap, and US empire, Tolentino analyzes the famous musical film West Side Story (1961, but also the Hollywood film Sabrina (1954 and Island productions El Otro Camino (The Other Road, 1955 and Maruja (1958. In contrast to prevailing views, she interprets these films as narratives about migration and modernization that engage the discourse of sentimental modernization, the figure of the jíbaro, and the idea of small town Puerto Rico. In so doing, they reveal the global vision at the center of the Operation Bootstrap development plan and Commonwealth formation. The concluding section suggests how the films take up issues in Puerto Rico’s historiography. Rather than merely illuminating a forgotten historical period of 1950s Puerto Rico, the 1950s films negotiate Puerto Rico’s geographical, political, and cultural locations by rethinking institutionalized meanings of 1898 in discourses of Puerto Rico historiography and US empire. Proposing new ways of interpreting the introduction of the Commonwealth in 1952 makes possible the revision of dominant conceptions of 1898 rooted in nation, government, and constitutional law.

  14. Preliminary Estimate of Earthworm Abundance and Species Richness in Spathodea campanulata Beauv. Forests in Northern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    ARIEL E. LUGO; OSCAR J. ABELLEIRA; SONIA BORGES; LAUREN J. COLÓN; SYNDI MELÉNDEZ; MARIELA A. RODRÍGUEZ

    2006-01-01

    The alien tree species Spathodea campanulata forms monodominant stands in abandoned agricultural lands in Puerto Rico. In July 2005, we excavated three replicate randomly located soil pits (25 by 25 by 30 cm) in each of six stands of Spathodea. Three of the stands were located in the moist alluvial geoclimatic zone and three were in the moist karst geoclimatic zone,...

  15. 40 CFR 81.77 - Puerto Rico Air Quality Control Region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 17 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Puerto Rico Air Quality Control Region... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES Designation of Air Quality Control Regions § 81.77 Puerto Rico Air Quality Control Region. The Puerto Rico Air Quality Control Region...

  16. Transnational Mortality Comparisons Between Archipelago and Mainland Puerto Ricans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colón-Ramos, Uriyoán; Rodríguez-Ayuso, Idania; Gebrekristos, Hirut T; Roess, Amira; Pérez, Cynthia M; Simonsen, Lone

    2017-10-01

    Puerto Ricans in the US experience higher deaths from diabetes and other causes compared to non-Hispanic Whites and other Hispanic groups. We compared mortality in Puerto Rico to that of Puerto Ricans in the US as a first step to investigate if similar or worse mortality patterns originate from the sending country (Puerto Rico). Age-adjusted death rates were generated using national vital statistics databases in the US and territories for all-cause and the top ten causes of death among Hispanics in 2009. Mortality ratios in the archipelago of Puerto Rico (APR) were compared to mainland US Puerto Ricans (MPR). Rates for other ethnic/racial groups (Mexican Americans, Cubans, and non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, American Indians, and Asians) were calculated to provide a context. APR had significantly higher all-cause mortality and death rates for diabetes, nephritis, pneumonia/influenza, and homicide/assault compared to MPR (APR/MPR ratio for all-cause: 1.08, diabetes: 2.04, nephritis: 1.84, pneumonia/influenza: 1.33, homicide/assault: 3.15). Death rates for diabetes and homicide/assault (particularly among men) were higher among APR compared to any other racial/ethnic groups in the US. In contrast, deaths from heart disease, cancer, and chronic liver disease were significantly lower for APR compared to MPR (MPR/APR ratio 0.72, 0.91, 0.41, respectively). Among APR women, death rates for these causes were also lower compared to any other group in the US. Substantial mortality variability exists between Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and those in the US, re-emphasizing the need to study of how socio-environmental determinants of health differ in sending and receiving countries. Explanations for disparate rates include access to and availability of healthcare and unique factors related to the migration experience of this group.

  17. Post-1898 Imaginative Geographies: Puerto Rico Migration in 1950s Film

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cynthia Tolentino

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This essay studies cultural representations of Puerto Rico’s economic boom and 1952 shift in legal status to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It suggests that apprehending these events requires the reframing of Puerto Rican migration as global phenomena. Drawing on the historical and cultural scholarship on Puerto Rican migration, Operation Bootstrap, and US empire, Tolentino analyzes the famous musical film West Side Story (1961, but also the Hollywood film Sabrina (1954 and Island productions El Otro Camino (The Other Road, 1955 and Maruja (1958. In contrast to prevailing views, she interprets these films as narratives about migration and modernization that engage the discourse of sentimental modernization, the figure of the jíbaro, and the idea of small town Puerto Rico. In so doing, they reveal the global vision at the center of the Operation Bootstrap development plan and Commonwealth formation. The concluding section suggests how the films take up issues in Puerto Rico’s historiography. Rather than merely illuminating a forgotten historical period of 1950s Puerto Rico, the 1950s films negotiate Puerto Rico’s geographical, political, and cultural locations by rethinking institutionalized meanings of 1898 in discourses of Puerto Rico historiography and US empire. Proposing new ways of interpreting the introduction of the Commonwealth in 1952 makes possible the revision of dominant conceptions of 1898 rooted in nation, government, and constitutional law.

  18. Elevation dependent sensitivity of northern hardwoods to Ca addition at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakesh Minocha; Stephanie Long; Palaniswamy Thangavel; Subhash C. Minocha; Christopher Eagar; Charles T. Driscoll

    2010-01-01

    Acidic deposition has caused a depletion of calcium (Ca) in the northeastern forest soils. Wollastonite (Ca silicate) was added to watershed 1 (WS1) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in 1999 to evaluate its effects on various functions of the HBEF ecosystem. The effects of Ca addition on foliar soluble (extractable in 5% HClO4) ions...

  19. Built for the future: New directions in silviculture research and demonstration at Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christopher R. Keyes; Thomas E. Perry

    2010-01-01

    Manipulative experiments at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest have long been set aside as permanent research and demonstration areas (RDA’s) to communicate the tradeoffs among different stand management strategies. However, most of these have either degraded over time or have diminished relevance to contemporary forest management issues. An...

  20. Limited carbon storage in soil and litter of experimental forest plots under increased atmospheric CO2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlesinger, W.H.; Lichter, J.

    2001-01-01

    The current rise in atmospheric CO 2 concentration is thought to be mitigated in part by carbon sequestration within forest ecosystems, where carbon can be stored in vegetation or soils. The storage of carbon in soils is determined by the fraction that is sequestered in persistent organic materials, such as humus. In experimental forest plots of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) exposed to high CO 2 concentrations, nearly half of the carbon uptake is allocated to short-lived tissues, largely foliage. These tissues fall to the ground and decompose, normally contributing only a small portion of their carbon content to refractory soil humic materials. Such findings call into question the role of soils as long-term carbon sinks, and show the need for a better understanding of carbon cycling in forest soils. Here we report a significant accumulation of carbon in the litter layer of experimental forest plots after three years of growth at increased CO 2 concentrations (565 μ l 1 ). But fast turnover times of organic carbon in the litter layer (of about three years) appear to constrain the potential size of this carbon sink. Given the observation that carbon accumulation in the deeper mineral soil layers was absent, we suggest that significant, long-term net carbon sequestration in forest soils is unlikely. (author)

  1. 7 CFR 318.13-24 - Sweet potatoes from Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sweet potatoes from Puerto Rico. 318.13-24 Section 318... Articles From Hawaii and the Territories § 318.13-24 Sweet potatoes from Puerto Rico. Sweet potatoes from Puerto Rico may be moved interstate to Atlantic Coast ports north of and including Baltimore, MD, under...

  2. Puerto Rican Women in International Business: Myths and Realities

    OpenAIRE

    Maritza Soto

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to study Puerto Rican women in international management, specifically with respect to the perceptions and myths regarding their participation in international assignments, their application in our culture, as well as, to study the factors that affect the participation of Puerto Rican women in international business. The results obtained indicate: 1) the current myths regarding Puerto Rican women in international business positions; 2) factors that influence when...

  3. Mapping the Forest Type and Land Cover of Puerto Rico, a Component of the Caribbean Biodiversity Hotspot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eileen Helmer; Olga Ramos; T. DEL M. LÓPEZ; Maya Quinones; W. DIAZ

    2002-01-01

    The Caribbean is one of the world’s centers of biodiversity and endemism. As in similar regions, many of its islands have complex topography, climate and soils, and ecological zones change over small areas. A segmented, supervised classification approach using Landsat TM imagery enabled us to develop the most detailed island-wide map of Puerto Rico’s extremely complex...

  4. Puerto Rico and Florida manatees represent genetically distinct groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Margaret E.; Mignucci-Giannoni, Antonio A.; Tucker, Kimberly Pause; King, Timothy L.; Bonde, Robert K.; Gray, Brian A.; McGuire, Peter M.

    2012-01-01

    The West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) populations in Florida (T. m. latirostris) and Puerto Rico (T. m. manatus) are considered distinct subspecies and are listed together as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. Sustained management and conservation efforts for the Florida subspecies have led to the suggested reclassification of the species to a threatened or delisted status. However, the two populations are geographically distant, morphologically distinct, and habitat degradation and boat strikes continue to threaten the Puerto Rico population. Here, 15 microsatellite markers and mitochondrial control region sequences were used to determine the relatedness of the two populations and investigate the genetic diversity and phylogeographic organization of the Puerto Rico population. Highly divergent allele frequencies were identified between Florida and Puerto Rico using microsatellite (F ST = 0.16; R ST = 0.12 (P ST = 0.66; Φ ST = 0.50 (P E = 0.45; NA = 3.9), were similar, but lower than those previously identified in Florida (HE = 0.48, NA = 4.8). Within Puerto Rico, the mitochondrial genetic diversity values (π = 0.001; h = 0.49) were slightly lower than those previously reported (π = 0.002; h = 0.54) and strong phylogeographic structure was identified (F ST global = 0.82; Φ ST global = 0.78 (P population size (N = 250), and distinct threats and habitat emphasize the need for separate protections in Puerto Rico. Conservation efforts including threat mitigation, migration corridors, and protection of subpopulations could lead to improved genetic variation in the endangered Puerto Rico manatee population.

  5. Experimental Forests and climate change: views of long-term employees on ecological change and the role of Experimental Forests and Ranges in understanding and adapting to climate change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurie Yung; Mason Bradbury; Daniel R. Williams

    2012-01-01

    In this project, we examined the views of 21 long-term employees on climate change in 14 Rocky Mountain Research Station Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs). EFRs were described by employees as uniquely positioned to advance knowledge of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies due to the research integrity they provide for long-term studies, the ability to...

  6. Temporal dynamics of a subtropical urban forest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001-2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. M. Tucker Lima; C. L. Staudhammer; T. J. Brandeis; F. J. Escobedo; W. Zipperer

    2013-01-01

    Several studies report urban tree growth and mortality rates as well as species composition, structural dynamics, and other characteristics of urban forests in mostly temperate, inland urban areas. Temporal dynamics of urban forests in subtropical and tropical forest regions are, until now, little explored and represent a new and important direction for study and...

  7. Invertebrates of The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Western Cascades, Oregon: III. The Orthoptera (Grasshoppers and Crickets).

    Science.gov (United States)

    David C. Lightfoot

    1986-01-01

    An inventory of Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, near Blue River, Oregon, was conducted to determine the species present and ecological relationships. A key for identification and an annotated list are presented. From qualitative assessments of successional habitat relationships, generalized species associations of forest...

  8. 78 FR 3495 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00017

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-16

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13437 and 13438] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00017 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Dated 01/03/2013. Incident: Heavy...

  9. 75 FR 51294 - Puerto Rico Disaster # PR-00010

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-19

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12270 and 12271] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00010 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of PUERTO RICO dated 08/11/2010. Incident: Severe...

  10. 75 FR 69733 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00012

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-15

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12368 and 12369] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00012 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 1. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico...

  11. 78 FR 4966 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00018

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-23

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13445 and 13446] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00018 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico dated 01/10/2013. Incident: Tropical...

  12. 75 FR 39060 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00009

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-07

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12214 and 12215] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00009 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-1919-DR...

  13. 76 FR 55155 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00014

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-06

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12768 and 12769] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00014 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4017-DR), dated 08/ 27/2011...

  14. 75 FR 68394 - Puerto Rico Disaster # PR-00012

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-05

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Disaster Declaration 12368 and 12369 Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00012 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA--1946--DR...

  15. 76 FR 55154 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00015

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-06

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12770 and 12771] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00015 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4017-DR...

  16. 76 FR 44647 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00013

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-26

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12699 and 12700] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00013 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4004-DR...

  17. 76 FR 66768 - Puerto Rico Disaster #PR-00016

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-27

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12897 and 12898] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00016 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4040-DR), dated 10/ 18/2011...

  18. 33 CFR 165.778 - Security Zone; Port of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ..., Puerto Rico. 165.778 Section 165.778 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND... Security Zone; Port of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. (a) Security zone. A moving and fixed security zone is established around all cruise ships entering, departing, mooring, or anchoring in the Port of Mayaguez, Puerto...

  19. Niche restriction and conservatism in a neotropical psittacine: the case of the Puerto Rican parrot

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Thomas H.; Collazo, Jaime A.; Dinsmore, Stephen J.; Llerandi-Roman, I. C.

    2014-01-01

    currently deforested but previously occupied by parrots, to illustrate both quantitative and qualitative losses of reproductive habitat for the species. We illustrate and systematically discuss how progressive and sustained changes in landscape composition and associated limiting factors have effectively shifted and restricted the ecological niche of this species, and how this complex suite of ecological processes affects the Puerto Rican parrot in the Luquillo Mountains. Our niche restriction hypothesis is supported by the demographic response of Puerto Rican parrots recently (2006-2009) reintroduced in the lower elevation karst forest of northwestern Puerto Rico. Based on our findings, we present conservation strategies aimed at promoting the recovery of the species both in the Luquillo Mountains and elsewhere in Puerto Rico. Finally, we address the relevance of our findings to conservation of other endangered species, particularly those threatened by both habitat loss and climate change. 

  20. Summary of climatic data for the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, interior Alaska.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard J. Barney; Erwin R. Berglund

    1973-01-01

    A summary of climatic data during the 1968-71 growing seasons is presented for the subarctic Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest located near Fairbanks, Alaska. Data were obtained from three weather station sites at elevations of 1,650, 1,150, and 550 feet from May until September each year. Data are for relative humidity, rainfall, and maximum, minimum, and mean...

  1. Folk Hero Modeling Therapy for Puerto Rican Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costantino, Guiseppe; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Describes development of a new modality for Puerto Rican adolescents which presents Puerto Rican folk heros and heroines in modeling therapy targeted towards enhancing adolescents' pride in their ethnic heritage. Evaluation of therapy using 21 adolescents indicated subjects increased in self-disclosure and self-confidence, gained pride, learned…

  2. 33 CFR 165.771 - Safety Zone; Bahia de Ponce, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ..., Puerto Rico 165.771 Section 165.771 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND... Zone; Bahia de Ponce, Puerto Rico (a) Location. The following area is established as a safety zone... Bahia de Ponce, on approach to or departure from the Puerto de Ponce waterfront facility in Bahia de...

  3. Ecological consequences of petroleum spillage in the coastal waters of Puerto Rico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez, J M

    1978-01-01

    Ecological consequences of petroleum spillage in the coastal waters of Puerto Rico can be severe to corals, sea grasses, and mangroves, particularly red mangroves, according to case studies. The initial acute effect can be large, but chronic long-term effects are also possible. Oil coating of fringing stands of the red mangrove and the associated intertidal communities of their prop roots impairs productivity and destroys the attached organisms. Oil becomes trapped and may not be retrieved or cleaned from the forest. The abundance and persistence of petroleum hydrocarbons in sediments within the roots correlate with the absence of benthic organisms four years after an oil spill. Coral reefs are least impacted, and beds of the sea grass. Petroleum spills near the Puerto Rican coast include dumping of 10,000 tons of crude oil from the grounded Argea Prima on July 16, 1962., spilling the entire crude oil cargo of the Ocean Eagle on March 3, 1968 (after which dispersants did more harm than good), dumping of 37,000 bbl of crude oil by the grounded Zoe Colocotronis on March 18, 1973, spilling of 10,000 bbl of bunker C and 2000 bbl or diesel fuel from a barge on December 9, 1975, and dumping of 1000 bbl of crude from a grounded tanker in March 1977.

  4. The Puerto Ricans: Their History, Culture, and Society.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez, Adalberto, Ed.

    Articles in this book cover Puerto Rican history from the Spanish colonization to the present day experience of Puerto Ricans in the United States. Political, social, economic, cultural, and historical issues are addresed by the following authors: Edna Acosta-Belen, Frank Bonilla, Juan Manuel Carrion, Diana Christopulos, Sandra Messinger Cypess,…

  5. 42 CFR 412.374 - Payments to hospitals located in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Payments to hospitals located in Puerto Rico. 412... Payment System for Inpatient Hospital Capital Costs Special Rules for Puerto Rico Hospitals § 412.374 Payments to hospitals located in Puerto Rico. (a) FY 1998 through FY 2004. Payments for capital-related...

  6. 27 CFR 19.396 - Spirits removed for shipment to Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Spirits removed for shipment to Puerto Rico. 19.396 Section 19.396 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO... § 19.396 Spirits removed for shipment to Puerto Rico. Spirits removed for shipment to Puerto Rico with...

  7. Research publications of the Cascade Head Experimental Forest and Scenic Research Area, Oregon Coast Range, 1934 to 1990.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarah E. Greene; Tawny Blinn

    1991-01-01

    A list of publications resulting from research at the Cascade Head Experimental Forest and Scenic Research Area, Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon, from 1934 to 1990 is presented. Over 200 publications are listed, including papers, theses, and reports. An index is provided that cross-references the listings under appropriate keywords.

  8. 42 CFR 412.204 - Payment to hospitals located in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Payment to hospitals located in Puerto Rico. 412... Payment System for Inpatient Operating Costs for Hospitals Located in Puerto Rico § 412.204 Payment to hospitals located in Puerto Rico. (a) FY 1988 through FY 1997. For discharges occurring on or after October...

  9. The shape of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico El estado de la epidemia de VIH/SIDA en Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria A. Gomez

    2000-06-01

    Full Text Available This study presents information on AIDS patients in Puerto Rico, including their general sociodemographic profile, some risk-related parameters, characteristics of vulnerable groups, and elements of the clinical spectrum of the disease. Data were analyzed from the Puerto Rico AIDS Surveillance Program and available studies about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico. A total of 23 089 AIDS cases was reported to the Puerto Rico AIDS Surveillance Program from January 1981 through February 1999. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected mostly males and females between the ages of 30 and 49, though cases have also been reported for other age groups. The cumulative proportion of persons with AIDS who are women has increased tremendously, from 11.4% for the 1981-1986 period to 21.6% for the entire 1981-1999 period. In Puerto Rico the category of injecting drug users (IDUs accounts for the majority of the AIDS cases (52%, followed by heterosexual contact (22%, and men who have sex with men (17%. The three main diagnoses for AIDS on the island are wasting syndrome (30.7%; esophageal, bronchial, and lung candidiasis (29.4%; and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (26.8%. According to 1994 vital statistics for Puerto Rico, AIDS was the fourth-leading cause of death. The overall reported AIDS mortality rate was 42.0 per 100 000 persons, with the rate for males, 67.8, much higher than it was for females, 17.4. AIDS is the first cause of death among persons between 30 and 39 years old. Intense efforts are needed to better understand the epidemic in Puerto Rico and its biology, social and family impacts, and financial costs.Este estudio presenta información sobre los pacientes con sida en Puerto Rico, como su perfil sociodemográfico general, los factores de riesgo, las características de los grupos vulnerables y los elementos del espectro clínico de la enfermedad. Los datos analizados procedían del Programa de Vigilancia del sida en Puerto Rico y de estudios sobre

  10. Leprosy in Puerto Rico: insight into the new millennia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentín, Diana C; Candelario, Nicole; Carrasquillo, Osward Y; Figueroa, Luz; Sánchez, Jorge L

    2017-04-01

    Leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined the elimination of the disease as a global prevalence of less than one case per 10,000 population. However, disease transmission is an ongoing worldwide public health concern, as evidenced by the more than 220,000 new cases diagnosed each year. This study is an update of the incidence and prevalence of leprosy in Puerto Rico for the period of 2000-2014. A retrospective analysis of data was obtained from the Tropical Disease Clinic (TDC) of the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Sixty-three new cases of leprosy are detailed in this study. Disease incidence and prevalence were 1.65 and 5.26 per 100,000 inhabitants (of the island of Puerto Rico), respectively, and an average of 4.2 new cases per year. Most of the male patients in the study suffered from lepromatous leprosy (P = 0.026). In all, 47 (74.6%) patients had been born in Puerto Rico, and 29 (46%) had an affected family member or were in close contact with someone with leprosy. Compared to those of previous studies, these results demonstrate a decrease in both the incidence and prevalence of leprosy in Puerto Rico over the past 15 years. The relatively high prevalence of leprosy in Puerto Rico means that it remains endemic on the island. Concerted efforts must be undertaken to achieve the goal of the elimination of this old and stigmatized disease. © 2017 The International Society of Dermatology.

  11. 76 FR 47286 - Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00013

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-04

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Disaster Declaration 12699 and 12700 Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00013 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 1. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Puerto...

  12. 76 FR 67244 - Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-31

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12768 and 12769] Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 5. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4017...

  13. 76 FR 59179 - Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-23

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12768 and 12769] Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 2. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4017...

  14. 76 FR 56858 - Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-14

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12768 and 12769] Puerto Rico Disaster Number PR-00014 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 1. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (FEMA-4017...

  15. 75 FR 2165 - Puerto Rico Disaster No. PR-00007

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-14

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration Nos. 12004 and 12005; Puerto Rico Disaster No. PR-00007] Puerto Rico Disaster No. PR-00007 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the Commonwealth of...

  16. Effects of forest management on running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. Ex A. Eaton) distribution and abundance in the Fernow Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.Q. Burkhart; J.R. Rentch; T.M. Schuler

    2013-01-01

    Identifying habitat preferences of species of concern is fundamental to the practice of conservation, but disturbances and other environmental processes can substantially affect suitability. Trifolium stoloniferum, or running buffalo clover, is a federally endangered plant species that occurs on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia....

  17. Estructura y química del suelo en un bosque de Castilla elastica en el carso del norte de Puerto Rico: resultados de una calicata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christian A. Viera Martinez; Oscar Abelleira; Ariel E. Lugo

    2008-01-01

    We dug a soil pit of 1m x 1m x 1m in a forest dominated by Castilla elastica, a tree for shade coffee introduced in the karst of northern Puerto Rico. We found four soil horizons (designation notes in parenthesis) (A) organic soil matter (E) mineral soil leachate (B) aerobic mineral soil, and (C) saturated soil. The total storage of soil organic matter was 143 Mg/ha....

  18. 42 CFR 412.370 - General provisions for hospitals located in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Prospective Payment System for Inpatient Hospital Capital Costs Special Rules for Puerto Rico Hospitals § 412.370 General provisions for hospitals located in Puerto Rico. Except as provided in § 412.374, hospitals located in Puerto Rico are subject to the rules in this subpart governing the prospective payment...

  19. A Cultural Resources Reconnaissance of Five Projects in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-01-01

    Memorias de Melgarejo). Melgarejo mentions that one of these three mills was located next to the mouth of the Loiza River, and that this was also the...Mexico. Cordova, Pedro Tomas de Memorias historicas de Puerto Rico. D-3 D’Alzina, Ismael 1957 Historia gr~fica de Puerto Rico, 1. Primera Epoca. Ed...Servidumbre de faja de terreno de 5.0 metros de ancho y 400.46 metros de largo a favor de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados de Puerto Rico

  20. 20 CFR 404.1089 - Figuring net earnings for residents and nonresidents of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... nonresidents of Puerto Rico. 404.1089 Section 404.1089 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION... Puerto Rico. (a) Residents. If you are a resident of Puerto Rico, whether or not you are an alien, a citizen of the United States, or a citizen of Puerto Rico, you must figure your net earnings from self...

  1. Columbia University Puerto Rico Study.

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Lifetime childhood asthma prevalence (LCAP) percentages in Puerto Rico Health Regions (HR) are substantially higher in northeastern vs. southwestern HR. Higher...

  2. Diversity of Papaya ringspot virus isolates in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) devastates papaya production worldwide. In Puerto Rico, papaya fields can be completely infected with PRSV within a year of planting. Information about the diversity of the Puerto Rican PRSV population is relevant in order to establish a control strategy in the island. T...

  3. Quantifying the role of forested lands in providing surface drinking water supply for Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erika Cohen; Ge Sun; Liangxia Zhang; Peter Caldwell; Suzanne Krieger

    2017-01-01

    The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture published a General Technical Report (GTR-SRS-197) in 2014 that quantified the role that water originating on National Forest System lands contributed to the drinking water supply and determined what population and communities were being served in the 13 Southern States of Region 8 of the Forest Service. The...

  4. Effects of nutrient additions on ecosystem carbon cycle in a Puerto Rican tropical wet forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    YIQING LI; MING XU; XIAOMING ZOU

    2006-01-01

    Wet tropical forests play a critical role in global ecosystem carbon (C) cycle, but C allocation and the response of different C pools to nutrient addition in these forests remain poorly understood. We measured soil organic carbon (SOC), litterfall, root biomass, microbial biomass and soil physical and chemical properties in a wet tropical forest from May 1996 to July...

  5. 47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

  6. Puerto Rico Soil Erodibility (Kffact)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Puerto Rico soil erodibility (Kffactor) - low values indicate low vulnerability to erosion, higher values mean higher susceptibility to runoff.

  7. Comparing vegetation cover in the Santee Experimental Forest, South Carolina (USA), before and after hurricane Hugo: 1989-2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giovanni R. Cosentino

    2013-01-01

    Hurricane Hugo struck the coast of South Carolina on September 21, 1989 as a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Landsat Thematic mapper was utilized to determine the extent of damage experienced at the Santee Experimental Forest (SEF) (a part of Francis Marion National Forest) in South Carolina. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the...

  8. Influence of large wood on channel morphology and sediment storage in headwater mountain streams, Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandra E. Ryan; Erica L. Bishop; J. Michael Daniels

    2014-01-01

    Large fallen wood can have a significant impact on channel form and process in forested mountain streams. In this study, four small channels on the Fraser Experimental Forest near Fraser, Colorado, USA, were surveyed for channel geometries and large wood loading, including the size, source, and characteristics of individual pieces. The study is part of a larger effort...

  9. Skin cancer in Puerto Rico: a multiannual incidence comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De La Torre-Lugo, Eneida M; Figueroa, Luz D; Sánchez, Jorge L; Morales-Burgos, Adisbeth; Conde, Daniel

    2010-09-01

    The incidence of skin cancer continues to increase worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of skin cancer in Puerto Rico in a selected year (2005) and to compare these findings with those previously reported for Puerto Rico in 1974 and 1981 and with other countries. The data was collected from the pathology reports corresponding to the period of January to December 2005 of 21 participating Pathology Laboratories throughout Puerto Rico. The rate and distribution of the main types of skin cancer was calculated based on sex, age, anatomic location and laterality. The incidence of skin cancer in Puerto Rico for 2005 was 6,568 cases, which represent a rate of 167.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. The most common type of skin cancer was basal-cell carcinoma. Skin cancer was more common in males except for melanoma, which was more common in females. The incidence increases with age on all types of skin cancer. The head and neck area was the most frequent location, except for melanoma in women, which was more common on the legs. The incidence rate was 41.5/100,000 in 1974, 52.5/100,000 in 1981 and 167.9/100,000 in 2005, a 305% increase. We found an increasing incidence of skin cancer in Puerto Rico when compared with previous reported data. This analysis provides a comprehensive evaluation of the epidemiology of skin cancer in Puerto Rico.

  10. Rainfall-induced landslide susceptibility zonation of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiara Lepore; Sameer A. Kamal; Peter Shanahan; Rafael L. Bras

    2011-01-01

    Landslides are a major geologic hazard with estimated tens of deaths and $1–2 billion in economic losses per year in the US alone. The island of Puerto Rico experiences one or two large events per year, often triggered in steeply sloped areas by prolonged and heavy rainfall. Identifying areas susceptible to landslides thus has great potential value for Puerto Rico and...

  11. HINTS Puerto Rico: Final Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    This final report describes HINTS implementation in Puerto Rico. The report addresses sampling; staffing, training and management of data collection; calling protocol; findings from the CATI Operations, and sample weights.

  12. Hydrologic and forest management controls on DOC dynamics in the small watersheds of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, OR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lajtha, K.; Jones, J. A.

    2016-12-01

    Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export from hillslopes to streams is an important component of the carbon cycle of a catchment and may be a critical source of energy for the aquatic food web in receiving waters. Using a long-term record of DOC and other dissolved nutrients and elements from paired watersheds from the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, we explored hydrologic, climatic, and land-use controls on seasonal and inter-annual patterns of DOC flux in a seasonally dry ecosystem. Seasonal patterns of DOC flux demonstrated source limitations to DOC export, with DOC concentrations highest immediately following the first rains after a dry summer, and lowest after winter rains. In contrast, more geochemically-controlled elements showed simple dilution-concentration patterns with no seasonal hysteresis. Inter-annual patterns of DOC flux, however, did not provide evidence of source limitation, with DOC flux within a watershed tightly correlated to total discharge but not temperature. Among watersheds, forest harvest, even over 50 years ago, significantly reduced DOC flux but not fluxes of other elements including N; this response was linked to the loading of coarse woody debris to the forest floor. Chemical fingerprinting of DOC revealed that old-growth watersheds had higher fluxes of DOC characteristic of forest floor organic materials, likely delivered to streams through more surficial preferential flow pathways not subject to microbial alteration, respiration, or sorption losses. Taken together these results suggest that the biogeochemical composition of forested streams reflects both current hydrologic patterns and also processes that occurred many decades ago within the catchment.

  13. Puerto Rico, humedales [Puerto Rico, wetlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, D. Briane; Hefner, John M.; Dopazo, Teresa

    1999-01-01

    La isla de Puerto Rico, localizada al noreste del Mar Caribe y sus islas principales, Vieques, Culebra e Isla de Mona, poseen humedales en abundancia . El clima subtropical, la lluvia abundante y las complejas formas topográficas y geológicas de estas islas dan origen a los humedales, que varían desde los raros e inusuales bosques cubiertos por nubes en las tierras altas, hasta los extensos manglares, yerbas marinas y arrecifes de coral a lo largo de las costas Norte y Sur. Sin embargo, los humedales en Puerto Rico han disminuido en los últimos siglos como resultado del aumento en el desarrollo agrícola, poblacional y turístico. Algunos tipos de humedales como los bosques de palo de pollo (Pterocarpus officinalis) se han reducido a sólo unos pocos remanentes (figura 1).Biológicamente hablando, los humedales de las islas están entre las áreas más productivas. Los humedales asociados con el bosque pluvial en las tierras altas del interior de Puerto Rico contienen varias plantas raras y especies de animales que no se encuentran en otras partes de la Isla. El agua de escorrentía proveniente de los humedales en las partes altas de la Isla proveen una fuente de agua que utilizan varias ciudades para abasto público. Los humedales costeros como los mangles, los colchones de yerbas marinas y los arrecifes de coral proveen áreas para la reproducción y crianza de varios peces, crustáceos y otras especies en la cadena alimenticia (López y otros, 1988). De esta manera, los humedales costeros contribuyen a la productividad biológica de las aguas llanas del mar alrededor de las islas . Los humedales también estabilizan las costas atrapando y reteniendo sedimentos no consolidados y amortiguan la acción de las olas y de las tormentas que tienen el potencial de causar daños en la zona.El valor de los humedales de Puerto Rico para la vida silvestre está muy bien documentado . Por ejemplo, las salinas de Cabo Rojo, en la costa suroeste, proveen áreas para el

  14. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: INDEX

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  15. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: BIRDS

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  16. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: HABITATS

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  17. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: KARST

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  18. 5 CFR 532.275 - Special wage schedules for ship surveyors in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... in Puerto Rico. 532.275 Section 532.275 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL... schedules for ship surveyors in Puerto Rico. (a) The Department of Defense shall establish special wage schedules for nonsupervisory ship surveyors and supervisory ship surveyors in Puerto Rico. (b) Rates shall...

  19. 42 CFR 412.220 - Special treatment of certain hospitals located in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Puerto Rico. 412.220 Section 412.220 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT... SERVICES Prospective Payment System for Inpatient Operating Costs for Hospitals Located in Puerto Rico § 412.220 Special treatment of certain hospitals located in Puerto Rico. Subpart G of this part sets...

  20. 78 FR 13625 - Approval of Subzone Status; Sea World, Inc.; Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-28

    ... World, Inc.; Guaynabo, Puerto Rico On December 12, 2012, the Executive Secretary of the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board docketed an application submitted by the Puerto Rico Trade & Export Company, grantee... Sea World, Inc., in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The application was processed in accordance with the FTZ...

  1. Political Status of Puerto Rico: Options for Congress

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-19

    basis would voters select the status quo option during the second plebiscite? Second, could the inclusion of the commonwealth option on the second...Values and Institutions (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1969), p. 262. C. Arthur Borg, “The Problem of Puerto Rico’s Political Status, Revista ...University Press of Kansas, 1975), p. 185.] See also Roberta A. Johnson, “The 1967 Puerto Rican Plebiscite: The People Decide,” Revista /Review

  2. 40 CFR 52.2723 - EPA-approved Puerto Rico regulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... EPA-approved Puerto Rico regulations. Regulation for the Control of Atmospheric Pollution Puerto Rico... Methods 9/28/95 ......do Rule 107—Air Pollution Emergencies 9/28/95 ......do Rule 108—Air Pollution Control Equipment 9/28/95 ......do Rule 109—Notice of Violation 9/28/95 ......do Rule 110—Revision of...

  3. La ensenanza de idiomas en Puerto Rico (Language Teaching in Puerto Rico)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llorens, Washington

    1976-01-01

    The poor command of Spanish common to many Puerto Ricans is due, not to the teaching of English as a second language, but to the poor instruction of the native language and the lack of emphasis on reading good Spanish literature. The two languages can coexist. (Text is in Spanish.) (CHK)

  4. QUANTIFYING SEDIMENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GUÁNICA BAY PUERTO RICO

    Science.gov (United States)

    The island of Puerto Rico faces considerable challenges regarding sustainable land use and effects of land use on adjacent freshwater and marine ecosystem services. In watersheds feeding Guánica Bay (southwestern Puerto Rico), increased soil erosion and sediment loading to strea...

  5. Nonnative invasive plants in the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine, USA: influence of site, silviculture, and land use history

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elizabeth Olson; Laura S. Kenefic; Alison C. Dibble; John C. Brissette

    2011-01-01

    We investigated the occurrence of nonnative invasive plants on approximately 175 ha comprising a long-term, 60-year-old U.S. Forest Service silvicultural experiment and old-field stands in the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in central Maine. Stands in the silvicultural experiment were never cleared for agriculture, but have been repeatedly partially cut. Our...

  6. Uso de terreno urbano y rural en Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sebastian Martinuzzi; William A. Gould; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez; Maya Quinones; Michael E. Jimenez

    2008-01-01

    El Proyecto de Analisis de Gap de Puerto Rico (PRGAP) (Gould et al. 2008) desarrollo tres usos de terrenos para Puerto Rico: Urbano, Suburbano, y Rural (Martinuzzi et al. 2007). Estas regiones tambien pueden ser consideradas como urbano, densamente-poblado rural, y escasamente-poblado rural, o como urbano y area silvestre con una interfase de area silvestre-urbana. La...

  7. 78 FR 9884 - Approval of Subzone Status; Zimmer Manufacturing BV; Ponce, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-12

    ...; Zimmer Manufacturing BV; Ponce, Puerto Rico Pursuant to its authority under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act... subzone at the facility of Zimmer Manufacturing BV located in Ponce, Puerto Rico (FTZ Docket B-81-2012... hereby approves subzone status at the facility of Zimmer Manufacturing BV located in Ponce, Puerto Rico...

  8. Recent Advances in Dengue: Relevance to Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noyd, David H.; Sharp, Tyler M.

    2015-01-01

    Dengue represents an increasingly important public health challenge in Puerto Rico, with recent epidemics in 2007, 2010, and 2012–2013. Although recent advances in dengue vaccine development offer hope for primary prevention, the role of health professionals in the diagnosis and management of dengue patients is paramount. Case definitions for dengue, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue provide a framework to guide clinical decision-making. Furthermore, the differentiation between dengue and other acute febrile illnesses, such as leptospirosis and chikungunya, is necessary for the appropriate diagnosis and management of cases. An understanding of dengue epidemiology and surveillance in Puerto Rico provides context for clinicians in epidemic and non-epidemic periods. This review aims to improve health professionals’ ability to diagnose dengue, and as highlight the relevance of recent advances in dengue prevention and management in Puerto Rico. PMID:26061055

  9. Source, Use, and Disposition of Freshwater in Puerto Rico, 2005

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molina-Rivera, Wanda L.

    2010-01-01

    Water diverted from streams and pumped from wells constitutes the main sources of water for the 78 municipios of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A better understanding is needed about water-use patterns, particularly about the amount of water used, where and how this water is used and disposed, and how human activities impact water resources. Irrigation practices, indoor and outdoor household uses, industrial uses, and commercial and mining withdrawals affect reservoirs, streams, and aquifers. Accurate and accessible water information for Puerto Rico is critical to ensure that water managers have the ability to protect and conserve this natural resource. The population of Puerto Rico increased 15 percent, from 3.4 million in 1985 to 3.9 million people 2005 and resulted in an increased demand for freshwater, mostly for the public-supply water use category. Almost 99 percent of the residents in Puerto Rico were served by public-supply water systems in 2005. One of the major challenges that water managers confront is the need to provide sufficient freshwater availability in the densely populated areas. Public-supply water is provided by the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority (PRASA) and by non-PRASA systems. Non-PRASA systems refer to community-operated water systems (water systems that serve a rural or suburban housing area).

  10. Changing forest water yields in response to climate warming: results from long-term experimental watershed sites across North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irena F. Creed; Adam T. Spargo; Julia A. Jones; Jim M. Buttle; Mary B. Adams; Fred D. Beall; Eric G. Booth; John L. Campbell; Dave Clow; Kelly Elder; Mark B. Green; Nancy B. Grimm; Chelcy Miniat; Patricia Ramlal; Amartya Saha; Stephen Sebestyen; Dave Spittlehouse; Shannon Sterling; Mark W. Williams; Rita Winkler; Huaxia. Yao

    2014-01-01

    Climate warming is projected to affect forest water yields but the effects are expected to vary.We investigated how forest type and age affect water yield resilience to climate warming. To answer this question, we examined the variability in historical water yields at long-term experimental catchments across Canada and the United States over 5-year cool and warm...

  11. Establishing a cause and effect relationship for ambient ozone exposure and tree growth in the forest: Progress and an experimental approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manning, William J.

    2005-01-01

    Much has been written about the effects of ambient ozone on tree growth. Cause and effect has been established with seedlings in chambers. Results from multi-year studies with older tree seedlings, in open-top chambers, have been inconclusive, due to chamber effects. Extrapolation of results from chambers to trees in the forest is not possible. Predictive models for forest tree growth reductions caused by ozone have been developed, but not verified. Dendrochronological methods have been used to establish correlations between radial growth reductions in forest trees and ambient ozone exposure. The protective chemical ethylenediurea (EDU) has been used to protect tree seedlings from ozone injury. An experimental approach is advocated here that utilizes forest trees selected for sensitivity and non-sensitivity to ozone, dendrochronological methods, the protective chemical EDU, and monitoring data for ambient ozone, stomatal conductance, soil moisture potential, air temperature, PAR, etc. in long-term investigations to establish cause and effect relationships. - Progress is reviewed and an experimental approach is proposed to demonstrate a cause and effect relationship for ambient ozone and forest tree growth

  12. Machismo y educacion en Puerto Rico [Machismo and Education in Puerto Rico].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pico, Isabel

    This book is the result of a study that investigated the influence of "machismo" (a set of attitudes, beliefs, and behavior that perpetuates the myth of male superiority) in elementary education. The study included (1) a content analysis of textbooks used in Spanish and social studies classes in public and private schools in Puerto Rico…

  13. 77 FR 52310 - Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 61, San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    ... 61, San Juan, Puerto Rico Pursuant to its authority under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of June 18... Order: Whereas, the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company, grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 61, submitted an application to the Board for authority to expand FTZ 61 to include a site in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, adjacent...

  14. Biogeography of Puerto Rican ants: a non-equilibrium case?

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.A. Torres; R.R. Snelling

    1997-01-01

    Ants were studied on Puerto Rico and 44 islands surrounding Puerto Rico. Habitat diversity was the best predictor of the number of species per island and the distributions of species followed a nested subset pattern. The number of extinctions per island was low, approximately 1 to 2 extinctions per island in a period of 18 years, and the rates of colonization seem to...

  15. Wave-induced extreme water levels in the Puerto Morelos fringing reef lagoon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Torres-Freyermuth

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Wave-induced extreme water levels in the Puerto Morelos fringing reef lagoon are investigated by means of a phase-resolving non-hydrostatic wave model (SWASH. This model solves the nonlinear shallow water equations including non-hydrostatic pressure. The one-dimensional version of the model is implemented in order to investigate wave transformation in fringing reefs. Firstly, the numerical model is validated with (i laboratory experiments conducted on a physical model (Demirbilek et al., 2007and (ii field observations (Coronado et al., 2007. Numerical results show good agreement with both experimental and field data. The comparison against the physical model results, for energetic wave conditions, indicates that high- and low-frequency wave transformation is well reproduced. Moreover, extreme water-level conditions measured during the passage of Hurricane Ivan in Puerto Morelos are also estimated by the numerical tool. Subsequently, the model is implemented at different along-reef locations in Puerto Morelos. Extreme water levels, wave-induced setup, and infragravity wave energy are estimated inside the reef lagoon for different storm wave conditions (Hs >2 m. The numerical results revealed a strong correlation between the offshore sea-swell wave energy and the setup. In contrast, infragravity waves are shown to be the result of a more complex pattern which heavily relies on the reef geometry. Indeed, the southern end of the reef lagoon provides evidence of resonance excitation, suggesting that the reef barrier may act as either a natural flood protection morphological feature, or as an inundation hazard enhancer depending on the incident wave conditions.

  16. Cancer disparities between mainland and island Puerto Ricans Disparidades en la incidencia de cáncer en puertorriqueños residentes en los Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gloria Y. F. Ho

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Examination of cancer rates in a single Hispanic subgroup-Puerto Ricans-and comparison of incidence rates among mainland Puerto Ricans living in the United States, island Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, and U.S. non-Hispanic whites to reveal ethnic-specific cancer patterns and disparities in Puerto Ricans. METHODS: Incidence data were obtained from the cancer registries of Puerto Rico and three U.S. northeastern states (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with a high density of mainland Puerto Ricans. Age-adjusted rates were compared by standardized rate ratios (SRRs. RESULTS: Total cancer incidence was the lowest in island Puerto Ricans, intermediate for mainland Puerto Ricans, and highest in U.S. non-Hispanic whites. Compared to mainland Puerto Ricans, islanders had significantly lower rates (p OBJETIVOS: Se analizaron las tasas de cáncer en un subgrupo de hispanos residentes en los Estados Unidos de América -los puertorriqueños (PRREUA y se compararon sus tasas de incidencia con las de los puertorriqueños que residen en Puerto Rico (PRRPR y la población estadounidense blanca sin ascendencia hispana (EUBNH a fin de encontrar patrones de cáncer y disparidades de orden étnico específicos para los puertorriqueños. MÉTODOS: Se obtuvieron los datos de incidencia de los registros de cáncer de Puerto Rico y tres estados del nordeste de los Estados Unidos (New York, New Jersey y Connecticut que tienen una elevada densidad de PRREUA. Se compararon las tasas ajustadas por la edad mediante las razones de las tasas estandarizadas (SRR. RESULTADOS: La incidencia total de cáncer fue menor en los PRRPR, intermedia en los PRREUA y mayor en los EUBNH. Los PRRPR presentaron tasas significativamente menores que los PRREUA (P < 0,05 en los principales tipos de cáncer -de pulmón (SRR = 0,36 en hombres; SRR = 0,29 en mujeres, próstata (SRR = 0,71, mama (SRR = 0,73 y colorrectal (SRR = 0,74 en hombres y SRR = 0,65 en mujeres- así como en

  17. 78 FR 16465 - Foreign-Trade Zone 7-Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Authorization of Production Activity, Pepsi Cola...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-84-2012] Foreign-Trade Zone 7--Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Authorization of Production Activity, Pepsi Cola Puerto Rico Distributing, LLC (Soft Drink...-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board on behalf of Pepsi Cola Puerto Rico Distributing, LLC, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico...

  18. Cardiovascular services and human resources in Puerto Rico - 2008.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Palmieri, Mario R

    2009-01-01

    Available information (2004-2008) concerning population statistics, the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular services and human resources in Puerto Rico is presented. Relevant information concerning life expectancy at birth, death by specific causes in a recent four years period, the commonest causes of death, and the related cardiovascular risk factors prevalence data available is included. The surgical and medical interventional services rendered to cardiovascular patients in different institutions and their locations in Puerto Rico in the year 2008 is presented. Some remarks concerning the productivity of physicians by our Schools of Medicine is included. Information about ACGME accredited postgraduate cardiovascular training programs conducted in Puerto Rico is presented. Data concerning the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, overweight and obesity obtained by BRFSS in presented.

  19. Food web structure in exotic and native mangroves: A Hawaii-Puerto Rico comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demopoulos, A.W.J.; Fry, B.; Smith, C.R.

    2007-01-01

    Plant invasions can fundamentally alter detrital inputs and the structure of detritus-based food webs. We examined the detrital pathways in mangrove food webs in native (Puerto Rican) and introduced (Hawaiian) Rhizophora mangle forests using a dual isotope approach and a mixing model. Based on trophic-level fractionation of 0-1??? for ?? 13C and 2-3??? for ?? 15N, among the invertebrates, only nematodes, oligochaetes, and nereid polychaetes from native mangroves exhibited stable isotopes consistent with a mangrove-derived diet. Certain fauna, in particular tubificid oligochaetes, had ?? 13C values consistent with the consumption of mangrove leaves, but they were depleted in 15N, suggesting their primary nitrogen source was low in 15N, and was possibly N 2-fixing bacteria. In introduced mangroves, all feeding groups appeared to rely heavily on non-mangrove sources, especially phytoplankton inputs. Mixing model results and discriminant analysis showed clear separation of introduced and native mangrove sites based on differential food source utilization within feeding groups, with stronger and more diverse use of benthic foods observed in native forests. Observed differences between native and invasive mangrove food webs may be due to Hawaiian detritivores being poorly adapted to utilizing the tannin-rich, nitrogen-poor mangrove detritus. In addition, differential utilization of mangrove detritus between native and introduced mangroves may be a consequence of forest age. We postulate that increasing mangrove forest age may promote diversification of bacterial food webs important in N and S cycling. Our results also suggest a potentially important role for sulfur bacteria in supporting the most abundant infaunal consumers, nematodes, in the most mature systems. ?? 2007 Springer-Verlag.

  20. 33 CFR 165.758 - Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico. (a) Location. Moving and fixed security zones are established 50... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico. 165.758 Section 165.758 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...

  1. FUEL CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH NATIVE AND EXOTIC GRASSES IN A SUBTROPICAL DRY FOREST IN PUERTO RICO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarrod M. Thaxton; Skip J. Van Bloem; Stefanie Whitmire

    2012-01-01

    Exotic grasses capable of increasing frequency and intensity of anthropogenic fire have invaded subtropical and tropical dry forests worldwide. Since many dry forest trees are susceptible to fire, this can result in decline of native species and loss of forest cover. While the contribution of exotic grasses to altered fire regimes has been well documented, the role of...

  2. Sand and gravel resources of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Rafael W.

    Many of Puerto Rico's beaches are eroding, and though rates of erosion vary, it is a major concern for the tourism and residential development industries. More than 85 percent of the population lives within 7 kilometers of the coast and they are heavily dependent on tourists that are attracted by the island's beaches and coral reefs. High-quality scientific data are needed to help formulate public policy regarding residential and commercial construction along the coast, beach replenishment, and future use of marine resources. Scientists have long recognized that the causes of coastal land loss are not limited to a relative rise in sea level, but can be manmade as well. For example, sediment supply to beaches especially along the north shore of Puerto Rico has been strongly affected by upstream river channeling, dam construction, various agricultural practices, paving and urbanization, as well as shallow-water oceanographic processes. The response to coastal erosion in Puerto Rico has been mostly crisis based leading to engineered solutions that have a negative effect on the coastal environment.

  3. Chemistry of burning the forest floor during the FROSTFIRE experimental burn, interior Alaska, 1999.

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.W. Harden; J.C. Neff; D.V. Sandberg; M.R. Turetsky; R. Ottmar; G. Gleixner; T.L. Fries; K.L. Manies

    2004-01-01

    Wildfires represent one of the most common disturbances in boreal regions, and have the potential to reduce C, N, and Hg stocks in soils while contributing to atmospheric emissions. Organic soil layers of the forest floor were sampled before and after the FROSTFIRE experimental burn in interior Alaska, and were analyzed for bulk density, major and trace elements, and...

  4. The Identity Development and Coming out Process of Gay Youth in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fankhanel, Edward H.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to gather basic exploratory-descriptive data regarding the self-perceptions and behaviors of Puerto Rican gay youth (16 to 24 years old) during their gay identity development and coming out process. The study was conducted in Puerto Rico to eliminate ethnic minority influences that may be present in Puerto Rican gay…

  5. Prematurity, atopy, and childhood asthma in Puerto Ricans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosas-Salazar, Christian; Ramratnam, Sima K; Brehm, John M; Han, Yueh-Ying; Boutaoui, Nadia; Forno, Erick; Acosta-Pérez, Edna; Alvarez, María; Colón-Semidey, Angel; Canino, Glorisa; Celedón, Juan C

    2014-02-01

    Puerto Rican children share a disproportionate burden of prematurity and asthma in the United States. Little is known about prematurity and childhood asthma in Puerto Rican subjects. We sought to examine whether prematurity is associated with asthma in Puerto Rican children. We performed a case-control study of 678 children aged 6 to 14 years with (n = 351) and without (n = 327) asthma living in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Prematurity was defined by parental report for our primary analysis. In a secondary analysis, we only included children whose parents reported prematurity that required admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Asthma was defined as physician-diagnosed asthma and wheeze in the prior year. We used logistic regression for analysis. All multivariate models were adjusted for age, sex, household income, atopy (≥1 positive IgE level to common allergens), maternal history of asthma, and early-life exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. In a multivariate analysis there was a significant interaction between prematurity and atopy on asthma (P = .006). In an analysis stratified by atopy, prematurity was associated with a nearly 5-fold increased odds of asthma in atopic children (adjusted odds ratio, 4.7; 95% CI, 1.5-14.3; P = .007). In contrast, there was no significant association between prematurity and asthma in nonatopic children. Similar results were obtained in our analysis of prematurity requiring admission to the neonatal intensive care unit and asthma. Our results suggest that atopy modifies the estimated effect of prematurity on asthma in Puerto Rican children. Prematurity might explain, in part, the high prevalence of atopic asthma in this ethnic group. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Sex Differences in Trajectories of Offending among Puerto Rican Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennings, Wesley G.; Maldonado-Molina, Mildred M.; Piquero, Alex R.; Odgers, Candice L.; Bird, Hector; Canino, Glorisa

    2010-01-01

    Although sex is one of the strongest correlates of crime, contentions remain regarding the necessity of sex-specific theories of crime. The current study examines delinquent trajectories across sex among Puerto Rican youth socialized in two different cultural contexts (Bronx, United States; and San Juan, Puerto Rico). Results indicate similar…

  7. The migratory impact of minimum wage legislation: Puerto Rico, 1970-1987.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santiago, C E

    1993-01-01

    "This study examines the impact of minimum wage setting on labor migration. A multiple time series framework is applied to monthly data for Puerto Rico from 1970-1987. The results show that net emigration from Puerto Rico to the United States fell in response to significant changes in the manner in which minimum wage policy was conducted, particularly after 1974. The extent of commuter type labor migration between Puerto Rico and the United States is influenced by minimum wage policy, with potentially important consequences for human capital investment and long-term standards of living." excerpt

  8. 75 FR 1543 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Puerto Rico; Guaynabo PM10

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-12

    ... Control of Atmospheric Pollution. On July 15, 2009, the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board submitted... Control of Atmospheric Pollution Commonwealth Puerto Rico regulations effective date EPA approval date... analysis and revisions to Rules 102 and 423 of the Puerto Rico Regulation for the Control of Atmospheric...

  9. Contaminación de las aguas del río Itaya por las actividades portuarias en el Puerto Masusa, Iquitos, Perú

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Patricia Cerdeña

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Las actividades portuarias generan contaminación en las aguas y los alrededores del puerto. Los parámetros físico-químicos y microbiológicos permiten determinar la presencia o no de contaminación en los cuerpos de agua. La investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la contaminación de las aguas del río Itaya por actividades portuarias del puerto Masusa - Iquitos. Se usó el diseño pre-experimental. Se encontró que existen diferencias significativas en los indicadores: pH, aceites y grasas, DBO5, DQO; y presencia de coliformes totales, coliformes termoreguladores y Escherichia coli. Se concluye que existe altas concentraciones de aceites y grasas en el puerto (63,45 mg/L en comparación con el río Amazonas (10 mg/L. El pH del agua del puerto (5,42 es ligeramente mayor al del río Amazonas (6,93. Los resultados muestran que el DQO del puerto Masusa (187mg/L es mayor a la DQO en el río Amazonas (50 mg/L. Las altas concentraciones de DBO5 en las aguas del puerto (87,5 mgO2 con respecto a las del río Amazonas (25 mgO2, nos permiten indicar que hay contaminación orgánica.  La presencia de concentraciones importantes de coliformes totales, coliformes termotolerantes y de Escherichia coli, indica que existe contaminación microbiológica. Dichos contaminantes se dan especialmente por desechos fecales vertidos directamente a las aguas.

  10. Contaminación de las aguas del río Itaya por las actividades portuarias en el Puerto Masusa, Iquitos, Perú

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Patricia Cerdeña

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Las actividades portuarias generan contaminación en las aguas y los alrededores del puerto. Los parámetros físico-químicos y microbiológicos permiten determinar la presencia o no de contaminación en los cuerpos de agua. La investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la contaminación de las aguas del río Itaya por actividades portuarias del puerto Masusa - Iquitos. Se usó el diseño pre-experimental. Se encontró que existen diferencias significativas en los indicadores: pH, aceites y grasas, DBO5, DQO; y presencia de coliformes totales, coliformes termoreguladores y Escherichia coli. Se concluye que existe altas concentraciones de aceites y grasas en el puerto (63,45 mg/L en comparación con el río Amazonas (10 mg/L. El pH del agua del puerto (5,42 es ligeramente mayor al del río Amazonas (6,93. Los resultados muestran que el DQO del puerto Masusa (187mg/L es mayor a la DQO en el río Amazonas (50 mg/L. Las altas concentraciones de DBO5 en las aguas del puerto (87,5 mgO2 con respecto a las del río Amazonas (25 mgO2, nos permiten indicar que hay contaminación orgánica.  La presencia de concentraciones importantes de coliformes totales, coliformes termotolerantes y de Escherichia coli, indica que existe contaminación microbiológica. Dichos contaminantes se dan especialmente por desechos fecales vertidos directamente a las aguas.

  11. Donde Estan los Estudiantes Puertorriquenos/os Exitosos? [Where Are the Academically Successful Puerto Rican Students?]: Success Factors of High-Achieving Puerto Rican High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antrop-Gonzalez, Rene; Velez, William; Garrett, Tomas

    2005-01-01

    This article describes the 4 success factors that 10 working class Puerto Rican urban high school students attributed to their high academic achievement. These success factors were (a) the acquisition of social capital through religiosity and participation in school and community-based extracurricular activities, (b) having a strong Puerto Rican…

  12. Analisis espacial de las areas protegidas terrestres de Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    M. Quinones; W.A. Gould; J. Castro-Prieto; S. Martinuzzi

    2013-01-01

    En este mapa de investigacion describimos las areas protegidas terrestres de Puerto Rico basado en elementos naturales y antropogenicos del paisaje. Utilizamos datos geoespaciales para calcular la extension y representatividad de elementos del paisaje dentro de las areas protegidas de Puerto Rico, i.e., cobertura del terreno (Gould et al. 2007), asentamientos urbanos...

  13. Hydrologic and water-quality characteristics of Caño Boquerón, Cabo Rojo, and Puerto Mosquito, Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico, July 2015–July 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Fragoso, Julieta M.; Santiago-Sáez, José A.

    2018-05-07

    Coastal lagoons are common features of the Puerto Rico shoreline that provide habitat for commercial and recreational species and serve important roles in the nutrient cycle of the ecosystems. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, conducted a limnological study at Caño Boquerón in Cabo Rojo and at Puerto Mosquito on Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico, to assess the principal mechanisms affecting the hydrology and water-quality characteristics of these coastal lagoons and provide baseline information to the regulatory agencies responsible for the management and conservation of these coastal waters and the preservation of their aquatic life.Field measurements and water samples were collected and processed during July 2015–July 2016 for analysis of physical, chemical, biological, and bacteriological characteristics. In addition, bathymetric surveys were made and sediment cores were collected in each lagoon to determine water volume and sediment deposition rate. Physicochemical properties assessed at Caño Boquerón indicated values were generally in compliance with Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board standards; turbidity was occasionally slightly greater than the established standards, and dissolved oxygen concentration at bottom depths was lower than standards limits. Water transparency was evaluated through the Secchi disk method, and the average depth of disappearance was 1.0 meter (m) for Caño Boquerón and 1.9 m for Puerto Mosquito.Assessment of biological characteristics at both sites included primary productivity calculations as well as carbon production equivalents and monthly water sampling for bacteriological and nutrient analyses. For Caño Boquerón, gross plankton primary productivity averaged 3.38 grams of oxygen per cubic meter per day (gO2/m3-d); this value was computed as the sum of net phytoplankton primary productivity (0.74 gO2/m3-d) and plankton respiration (2.64 gO2/m3-d). Net community

  14. The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study on health disparities in Puerto Rican adults: challenges and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Collado Bridgette M

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study is an ongoing longitudinal cohort study designed to examine the role of psychosocial stress on presence and development of allostatic load and health outcomes in Puerto Ricans, and potential modification by nutritional status, genetic variation, and social support. Methods Self-identified Puerto Ricans, aged 45-75 years and residing in the Boston, MA metro area, were recruited through door-to-door enumeration and community approaches. Participants completed a comprehensive set of questionnaires and tests. Blood, urine and salivary samples were extracted for biomarker and genetic analysis. Measurements are repeated at a two-year follow-up. Results A total of 1500 eligible participants completed baseline measurements, with nearly 80% two-year follow-up retention. The majority of the cohort is female (70%, and many have less than 8th grade education (48%, and fall below the poverty level (59%. Baseline prevalence of health conditions is high for this age range: considerable physical (26% and cognitive (7% impairment, obesity (57%, type 2 diabetes (40%, hypertension (69%, arthritis (50% and depressive symptomatology (60%. Conclusions The enrollment of minority groups presents unique challenges. This report highlights approaches to working with difficult to reach populations, and describes some of the health issues and needs of Puerto Rican older adults. These results may inform future studies and interventions aiming to improve the health of this and similar communities.

  15. Mapping tropical dry forest habitats integrating Landsat NDVI, Ikonos imagery, and topographic information in the Caribbean Island of Mona

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sebastián Martinuzzi

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Assessing the status of tropical dry forest habitats using remote sensing technologies is one of the research priorities for Neotropical forests. We developed a simple method for mapping vegetation and habitats in a tropical dry forest reserve, Mona Island, Puerto Rico, by integrating the Normalized Difference vegetation Index (NDvI from Landsat, topographic information, and high-resolution Ikonos imagery. The method was practical for identifying vegetation types in areas with a great variety of plant communities and complex relief, and can be adapted to other dry forest habitats of the Caribbean Islands. NDvI was useful for identifying the distribution of forests, woodlands, and shrubland, providing a natural representation of the vegetation patterns on the island. The use of Ikonos imagery allowed increasing the number of land cover classes. As a result, sixteen land-cover types were mapped over the 5 500 ha area, with a kappa coefficient of accuracy equal to 79 %. This map is a central piece for modeling vertebrate species distribution and biodiversity patterns by the Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project, and it is of great value for assisting research and management actions in the island. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (2: 625-639. Epub 2008 June 30.El estudio y evaluación de los bosques tropicales secos mediante herramientas de teledetección es una de las prioridades de investigación en los ambientes neotropicales. Desarrollamos una metodología simple para mapear la vegetación de la isla de Mona, Puerto Rico, mediante el uso del índice de vegetación normalizado (NDVI por sus siglas en inglés de Landsat, información topográfica, e imágenes auxiliares de alta resolución Ikonos. La metodología fue útil para identificar las clases de vegetación en un área de gran variedad de comunidades vegetales y relieve complejo, y puede ser adaptada a otras regiones de bosque seco de las islas del Caribe. El NDVI permitió identificar la distribución de

  16. Health disparities between island and mainland Puerto Ricans Disparidades de salud entre puertorriqueños que viven en la isla de Puerto Rico y en tierra firme estadounidense

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gloria Y. F. Ho

    2006-05-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To detect health disparities among three populations-Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico as well as Puerto Ricans and non-Hispanic whites living on the United States (U.S. mainland. METHODS: Data from two similarly designed surveys conducted in 1999-2000 were analyzed. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS provided data on Puerto Ricans living on the island and on non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. Another survey of Puerto Ricans living in New York City provided data on mainland Puerto Ricans. The age- and sex-standardized weighted prevalences of various health parameters (e.g., obesity, diabetes, smoking, and physical illness and indicators of access to health care (e.g., frequencies of routine checkups and diabetes care were compared between populations by means of standardized rate ratios (SRR. RESULTS: Puerto Ricans living on the mainland and those living on the island had a similar prevalence of obesity (21% to 22%. Compared with islanders, mainland Puerto Ricans had a higher prevalence of diabetes (SRR = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.01 to 2.0; those with diabetes also showed higher prevalences of smoking (SRR = 4.2; 95% CI = 2.3 to 7.7 and physical illness (SRR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.1 to 2.0 than Puerto Ricans living on the island. While mainland Puerto Ricans were similar to non-Hispanic whites in terms of their utilization of primary prevention and diabetes care, island Puerto Ricans trailed behind significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland and those living in Puerto Rico both need to target lowering their prevalence of obesity and diabetes. For island Puerto Ricans, improved education about the significance of primary prevention and diabetes care is needed. For mainland Puerto Ricans, the accessibility of the primary health care system renders it a potentially effective venue for interventions, particularly for smoking cessation. More studies are warranted to identify factors

  17. Puerto Rico State Briefing Book for low-level radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-10-01

    The Puerto Rico State Briefing Book is one of a series of state briefing books on low-level radioactive waste management practices. It has been prepared to assist state and federal agency officials in planning for safe low-level radioactive waste disposal. The report contains a profile of low-level radioactive waste generators in Puerto Rico. The profile is the result of a survey of NRC licensees in Puerto Rico. The briefing book also contains a comprehensive assessment of low-level radioactive waste management issues and concerns as defined by all major interested parties including industry, government, the media, and interest groups. The assessment was developed through personal communications with representatives of interested parties, and through a review of media sources. Lastly, the briefing book provides demographic and socioeconomic data and a discussion of relevant government agencies and activities, all of which may impact waste management practices in Puerto Rico

  18. Puerto Rico State Briefing Book for low-level radioactive waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1981-10-01

    The Puerto Rico State Briefing Book is one of a series of state briefing books on low-level radioactive waste management practices. It has been prepared to assist state and federal agency officials in planning for safe low-level radioactive waste disposal. The report contains a profile of low-level radioactive waste generators in Puerto Rico. The profile is the result of a survey of NRC licensees in Puerto Rico. The briefing book also contains a comprehensive assessment of low-level radioactive waste management issues and concerns as defined by all major interested parties including industry, government, the media, and interest groups. The assessment was developed through personal communications with representatives of interested parties, and through a review of media sources. Lastly, the briefing book provides demographic and socioeconomic data and a discussion of relevant government agencies and activities, all of which may impact waste management practices in Puerto Rico.

  19. Effects of watershed experiments on water chemistry at the Marcell Experimental Forest. Chapter 14.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephen D. Sebestyen; Elon S. Verry

    2011-01-01

    The Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF) was established during the 1960s to study the hydrology and ecology of lowland watersheds where upland mineral soils drain to central peatlands (Boelter and Verry 1977). The effects of seven large-scale manipulations on water chemistry have been studied on the MEF watersheds and the data now span up to four decades. In this chapter...

  20. Vascular flora of the Penobscot Experimental Forest, with provisional lists of lichens and bryophytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alison C. Dibble

    2014-01-01

    A compilation of plant lists from all available sources since the 1950s represents the flora of the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF), Bradley, Maine. More than 300 taxa of vascular plants in 71 families and 186 genera are included. Approximately 85 percent of the taxa are native to Maine. Ten of 45 nonnative species are considered invasive. Infraspecific taxa have...

  1. 26 CFR 1.933-1 - Exclusion of certain income from sources within Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Puerto Rico. 1.933-1 Section 1.933-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE... Exclusion of certain income from sources within Puerto Rico. (a) General rule. (1) An individual (whether a United States citizen or an alien), who is a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico during the entire taxable...

  2. 19 CFR 7.2 - Insular possessions of the United States other than Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... than Puerto Rico. 7.2 Section 7.2 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF... NAVAL STATION § 7.2 Insular possessions of the United States other than Puerto Rico. (a) Insular possessions of the United States other than Puerto Rico are also American territory but, because those insular...

  3. Puerto Rican Migration: The Return Flow = La Migracion Puertorriquena: El Reflujo a la Isla.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vivo, Paquita, Comp.

    This is a guide to materials and research on Puerto Ricans who have returned to Puerto Rico after living in the United States. Part 1 is an annotated bibliography of books, journal articles, printed documents, doctoral dissertations, master's theses, journalistic accounts, and unpublished papers on characteristics of Puerto Rican return migrants;…

  4. Viewing Forests Through a Historical Lens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noreen Parks; Eric [< em> featured scientist< /em> ]. Knapp

    2009-01-01

    Past records on fire-resilient, biodiverse stands could offer models for the future.  This year marks the centennial of the Forest Service’s nationwide network of 80 experimental forests and ranges, which serve as field laboratories for long-term studies on the science and management of national forests. At the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest in the central...

  5. Puerto Rico ESI and RSI: WETLANDS

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  6. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: HYDRO (Hydrology)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  7. Forest influences on snow accumulation and snowmelt at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colin A. Penn; Beverley C. Wemple; John L. Campbell

    2012-01-01

    Many factors influence snow depth, water content and duration in forest ecosystems. The effects of forest cover and canopy gap geometry on snow accumulation has been well documented in coniferous forests of western North America and other regions; however, few studies have evaluated these effects on snowpack dynamics in mixed deciduous forests of the northeastern USA....

  8. Metodología con SIG en dos estudios de competitividad: el Puerto de Granadilla de Abona (Sta. Cruz de Tenerife) y el Nuevo Puerto Tánger Med (Marruecos)

    OpenAIRE

    Moreno Navarro, Jesús Gabriel; Ventura Fernández, Jesús

    2007-01-01

    El hinterland y el foreland de un puerto de mercancías con las pretensiones de los proyectados puertos de Granadilla de Abona y Tanger-Med suponen un entramado de rutas de diferentes modos de transporte de extensión mundial. En este trabajo se expone la metodología seguida para evaluar su localización en los ejes estratégicos y su capacidad competitiva frente a otros puertos del entorno, con la base de su situación preferente. Considerando velocidades estándar para el movimiento de los buques...

  9. Effects of experimental nitrogen additions on plant diversity in tropical forests of contrasting disturbance regimes in southern China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Xiankai; Mo Jiangming; Gilliam, Frank S.; Yu Guirui; Zhang Wei; Fang Yunting; Huang Juan

    2011-01-01

    Responses of understory plant diversity to nitrogen (N) additions were investigated in reforested forests of contrasting disturbance regimes in southern China from 2003 to 2008: disturbed forest (with harvesting of understory vegetation and litter) and rehabilitated forest (without harvesting). Experimental additions of N were administered as the following treatments: Control, 50 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , and 100 kg N ha -1 yr -1 . Nitrogen additions did not significantly affect understory plant richness, density, and cover in the disturbed forest. Similarly, no significant response was found for canopy closure in this forest. In the rehabilitated forest, species richness and density showed no significant response to N additions; however, understory cover decreased significantly in the N-treated plots, largely a function of a significant increase in canopy closure. Our results suggest that responses of plant diversity to N deposition may vary with different land-use history, and rehabilitated forests may be more sensitive to N deposition. - Highlights: → Nitrogen addition had no significant effect on understory plant diversity in the disturbed forest. → Nitrogen addition significantly decreased understory plant cover. → Nitrogen addition had no effect on richness and density in the rehabilitated forest. → The decrease is largely a function of a significant increase in canopy closure. → Land-use practices may dominate the responses of plant diversity to N addition. - Research in disturbed forests of southeastern China demonstrates that land-use history can substantially alter effects of excess nitrogen deposition on plant diversity of tropical forest ecosystems.

  10. Hydrogen ion input to the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, during the last decade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gene E. Likens; F. Herbert Bormann; John S. Eaton; Robert S. Pierce; Noye M. Johnson

    1976-01-01

    Being downwind of eastern and midwestern industrial centers, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest offers a prime location to monitor long-term trends in atmospheric chemistry. Continuous measurements of precipitation chemistry during the last 10 years provide a measure of recent changes in precipitation inputs of hydrogen ion. The weighted average pH of precipitation...

  11. Arquitectura de Llanquihue: Puerto Varas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonzalo Cerda Brintrup

    1987-06-01

    Full Text Available Puerto Varas fue fundada por Vicente Pérez Rosales en 1852. Se le dio el nombre en homenaje al entonces Ministro del Interior, Don Antonio Varas, quien apoyó en forma decidida la llegada de colonos a esa región.

  12. Do Cloud Properties in a Puerto Rican Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Depend on Occurrence of Long-Range Transported African Dust?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spiegel, Johanna K.; Buchmann, Nina; Mayol-Bracero, Olga L.; Cuadra-Rodriguez, Luis A.; Valle Díaz, Carlos J.; Prather, Kimberly A.; Mertes, Stephan; Eugster, Werner

    2014-09-01

    We investigated cloud properties of warm clouds in a tropical montane cloud forest at Pico del Este (1,051 m a.s.l.) in the northeastern part of Puerto Rico to address the question of whether cloud properties in the Caribbean could potentially be affected by African dust transported across the Atlantic Ocean. We analyzed data collected during 12 days in July 2011. Cloud droplet size spectra were measured using the FM-100 fog droplet spectrometer that measured droplet size distributions in the range from 2 to 49 µm, primarily during fog events. The droplet size spectra revealed a bimodal structure, with the first peak ( D < 6 µm) being more pronounced in terms of droplet number concentrations, whereas the second peak (10 µm < D < 20 µm) was found to be the one relevant for total liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. We identified three major clusters of characteristic droplet size spectra by means of hierarchical clustering. All clusters differed significantly from each other in droplet number concentration (), effective diameter (ED), and median volume diameter (MVD). For the cluster comprising the largest droplets and the lowest droplet number concentrations, we found evidence of inhomogeneous mixing in the cloud. Contrastingly, the other two clusters revealed microphysical behavior, which could be expected under homogeneous mixing conditions. For those conditions, an increase in cloud condensation nuclei—e.g., from processed African dust transported to the site—is supposed to lead to an increased droplet concentration. In fact, one of these two clusters showed a clear shift of cloud droplet size spectra towards smaller droplet diameters. Since this cluster occurred during periods with strong evidence for the presence of long-range transported African dust, we hypothesize a link between the observed dust episodes and cloud characteristics in the Caribbean at our site, which is similar to the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect.

  13. 77 FR 48504 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Economic Value of Puerto Rico's Coral Reef...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-14

    ... Collection; Comment Request; Economic Value of Puerto Rico's Coral Reef Ecosystems for Recreation-Tourism... the market and non-market economic values of Puerto Rico's coral reef ecosystems. Estimates will be... Puerto Rico's coral reef ecosystems. The required information is to conduct focus groups to help in...

  14. A Transnational Colonial Migration: Puerto Rico’s Farm Labor Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Duany

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article, the author defines Puerto Rico as a nation, an imagined community with its own territory, history, language, and culture. Nevertheless, the Island lacks a sovereign state, an independent government that represents the population of that territory. This unsovereign state has long sponsored population displacements from Puerto Rico to the United States. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, colonial officials embraced migration as a safety valve for the Island’s overpopulation. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Commonwealth government spurred the "Great Migration" to the U.S. mainland. The Farm Labor Program, overseen by the Migration Division of Puerto Rico’s Department of Labor, illustrates the complicated negotiations required by a transnational colonial state.

  15. [Legal secrecy: abortion in Puerto Rico from 1937 to 1970].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchand-Arias, R E

    1998-03-01

    The essay discusses abortion in Puerto Rico from 1937 to 1970, concentrating in its legal status as well as its social practice. The research documents the contradictions between the legality of the procedure and a social practice characterized by secrecy. The essay discusses the role of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion in promoting the legal practice of absortion in Puerto Rico. It also discusses the ambivalent role of medical doctors who, despite being legally authorized to perform abortions to protect the life and health of women, refused to perform the procedure arguing abortion was illegal. The essay concludes with a brief discussion on perceptions of illegality regarding abortion, emphasizing the contradictions between the practice of abortion and that of sterilization in Puerto Rico.

  16. Plan de negocio de un restaurante localizado en el Puerto de Denia

    OpenAIRE

    GASCON ESCRIVA, EVA

    2012-01-01

    Con el presente proyecto se pretende estudiar la posibilidad de introducir un nuevo concepto de restauración en el Puerto de Denia. La metodología utilizada para llevar a cabo el Plan de Negocio está enfocada a la apertura de un nuevo restaurante en el Puerto de Denia. Estructurada en legislación, análisis estratégico y plan de negocio, plan económico y plan de marketing Gascon Escriva, E. (2012). Plan de negocio de un restaurante localizado en el Puerto de Denia. http://hdl.handle.n...

  17. Parenting Styles and Child Outcomes in Puerto Rican Families

    OpenAIRE

    Colón, Jeisianne Rosario

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate observed parenting styles among Puerto Rican parents living in Puerto Rico. Participants included 51 families with a child between the ages of 6 and 11. Families engaged in different behavioral observational tasks. Observations were coded for parenting dimensions and family parenting styles in order to determine its relationship to child outcomes. The Parenting Styles Observation Rating Scale was used to code the observations and the Child Behavior Ch...

  18. Understanding Suicidal Ideation in Latino/a Adolescents Living in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duarté-Vélez, Yovanska; Jones, Richard N; Spirito, Anthony

    2017-12-05

    Puerto Rican adolescents, as well as other Latinos/as, have been identified at higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts compared to other ethnic groups. However, research designed to better understand suicidality among Puerto Rican adolescents is rare. A socio-cognitive vulnerability model of suicidal ideation was tested in adolescents living in Puerto Rico. Multiple group path analyses were performed to assess the effect of self-reported socio-environmental and vulnerability factors on suicidal ideation, by sex, in 233 students from the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Overall, the model explained a large amount of the variance in suicidal ideation (r 2  = .59 for females and r2 = .48 for males). Depressive symptoms had the strongest total effect on suicidal ideation for both sexes (r = .69 for females and r = .53 for males) and negative life events were the most salient socio-environmental factor. Hopelessness had a direct effect on suicidal ideation for males only. Externalizing behaviors had a direct effect on suicidal ideation for both males and females, but it was particularly strong for females. Results support the mediating role of vulnerability factors and the differential importance of socio-environmental and vulnerability factors in understanding suicidal ideation among Puerto Rican adolescents. The relevance of exploring different developmental paths to suicidal ideation, separately by sex, is discussed.

  19. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Maunabo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  20. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Barceloneta), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  1. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Salinas), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  2. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Barcelon), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  3. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Arroyo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  4. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Candelero), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  5. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Luquillo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  6. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Ceiba), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  7. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Salinas), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  8. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Maunabo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  9. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Guayanil), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  10. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  11. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Rincon), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  12. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Ponce), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  13. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isabela), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  14. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Candelero), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  15. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Arroyo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  16. Sleep, Depressive/Anxiety Disorders, and Obesity in Puerto Rican Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koinis-Mitchell, Daphne; Rosario-Matos, Nicolás; Ramírez, Rafael R; García, Pedro; Canino, Glorisa J; Ortega, Alexander N

    2017-03-01

    Adolescents from Puerto Rican backgrounds are found to have higher rates of obesity than adolescents from other ethnic groups in the US. The objective of this study is to examine whether sleeping the recommended number of hours and depression or anxiety disorder are independently related to risk for obesity in a sample of Island Puerto Rican adolescents, and whether the association between sleep and obesity is moderated by depression or anxiety disorder. Data from the study were derived from the third wave of an island wide probability sample of Puerto Rican youth residing on the Island, 10-25 years of age (N = 825), with a response rate of 79.59%. The current study focuses on youth 10 to 19 years of age (n = 436). In this sample, youth who slept less than the recommended number of hours (defined as 7-9 h per night) had a significantly increased risk for obesity and were three times as likely to be obese. Youth who met criteria for a depressive/anxiety disorder were almost 2.5 times as likely to be obese. However, the presence of an anxiety/depressive disorders did not moderate the association between sleeping the recommended number of hours and risk for obesity. Sleeping less than the recommended number of hours may be an important risk factor for obesity status in Island Puerto Rican youth. These findings suggest that attention to healthy sleep behaviors and a sleep environment that promotes high quality sleep may be important for Puerto Rican adolescents at risk for obesity.

  17. Cobertura desarrollada de Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    William A. Gould; Sebastian Martinuzzi; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez

    2008-01-01

    Este mapa representa la cobertura desarrollada en Puerto Rico (Martinuzzi et al. 2007). Cobertura desarrollada se define aqui como areas urbanas, construidas y sin vegetacion, que resultan de actividad humana. Tipicamente, estas incluyen estructuras construidas, concreto, asfalto, u otra infraestructura. La cobertura desarrollada se creo mediante el analisis de...

  18. Why tropical forest lizards are vulnerable to climate warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huey, Raymond B.; Deutsch, Curtis A.; Tewksbury, Joshua J.; Vitt, Laurie J.; Hertz, Paul E.; Álvarez Pérez, Héctor J.; Garland, Theodore

    2009-01-01

    Biological impacts of climate warming are predicted to increase with latitude, paralleling increases in warming. However, the magnitude of impacts depends not only on the degree of warming but also on the number of species at risk, their physiological sensitivity to warming and their options for behavioural and physiological compensation. Lizards are useful for evaluating risks of warming because their thermal biology is well studied. We conducted macrophysiological analyses of diurnal lizards from diverse latitudes plus focal species analyses of Puerto Rican Anolis and Sphaerodactyus. Although tropical lowland lizards live in environments that are warm all year, macrophysiological analyses indicate that some tropical lineages (thermoconformers that live in forests) are active at low body temperature and are intolerant of warm temperatures. Focal species analyses show that some tropical forest lizards were already experiencing stressful body temperatures in summer when studied several decades ago. Simulations suggest that warming will not only further depress their physiological performance in summer, but will also enable warm-adapted, open-habitat competitors and predators to invade forests. Forest lizards are key components of tropical ecosystems, but appear vulnerable to the cascading physiological and ecological effects of climate warming, even though rates of tropical warming may be relatively low. PMID:19324762

  19. Factorial Structure of a Measure of Acculturation in a Puerto Rican Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Leon, Brunilda; Mendez, Serafin

    1996-01-01

    The psychometric characteristics of the Cultural Life Style Inventory were studied with a sample of 402 Puerto Rican college students. Factor analysis revealed high factorial stability for Puerto Ricans. Similarities and differences with a previously studied Mexican American population are discussed. (SLD)

  20. Breast cancer patterns and lifetime risk of developing breast cancer among Puerto Rican females.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazario, C M; Figueroa-Vallés, N; Rosario, R V

    2000-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiologic patterns of breast cancer and to estimate the lifetime risk probability of developing breast cancer among Hispanic females using cancer data from Puerto Rico. The age-adjusted breast cancer incidence rate (per 100,000) in Puerto Rico increased from 15.3 in 1960-1964 to 43.3 in 1985-1989. The age-adjusted breast cancer mortality rate (per 100,000) increased from 5.7 to 10.6 comparing the same two time periods (1960-1964 vs 1985-1989). Nevertheless, in 1985-1989 breast cancer incidence rate was higher in US White females (110.8 per 100,000) compared to Puerto Rican females (51.4 per 100,000; age-adjusted to the 1970 US standard population). The breast cancer mortality rate was also higher in US White females (27.4 per 100,000) than in Puerto Rican females (15.1 per 100,000; age-adjusted to the 1970 US standard population) during 1985-1989. A multiple decrement life table was constructed applying age-specific incidence and mortality rates from cross-sectional data sets (1980-1984 and 1985-1989 data for Puerto Rican females and 1987-1989 SEER data sets for US White and Black females) to a hypothetical cohort of 10,000,000 women. The probability of developing invasive breast cancer was computed for the three groups using the long version of DEVCAN: Probability of DEVeloping CANcer software, version 3.3. The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer was 5.4% for Puerto Rican females, compared to 8.8% for US Black females and 13.0% for US White females. Lifetime risk for Puerto Rican females increased from 4.5% in 1980-1984 to 5.4% in 1985-1989. Lifetime risk of breast cancer appears to be increasing in Puerto Rico, but remains lower than the probability for US White females. Therefore, the application of lifetime probability of developing invasive breast cancer estimated for the US female population will overestimate the risk for the Puerto Rican female population.

  1. Spatial analysis of Puerto Rico's terrestrial protected areas [1:240 000

    Science.gov (United States)

    M. Quinones; W.A. Gould; J. Castro-Prieto; S. Martinuzzi

    2013-01-01

    This research map describes Puerto Rico's terrestrial protected areas based on natural and anthropogenic elements of the landscape. We used geospatial data, i.e., land cover (Gould et al. 2007); urban, suburban, and rural settlements (Martinuzzi et al. 2008); and physiography to illustrate landscape elements and analyze what and how much is protected in Puerto...

  2. 77 FR 43063 - Affirmation of Vertical Datum for Surveying and Mapping Activities for the Territory of Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-23

    ... Datum for Surveying and Mapping Activities for the Territory of Puerto Rico AGENCY: National Geodetic...-16 ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a016/a016.html ), to affirm the Puerto Rico Vertical... the islands of Puerto Rico, Culebra, Mona and Vieques of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and to the...

  3. Occurrence and correlates of overweight and obesity among island Puerto Rican youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garza, Jeremiah R; Pérez, Edna Acosta; Prelip, Michael; McCarthy, William J; Feldman, Jonathan M; Canino, Glorisa; Ortega, Alexander N

    2011-01-01

    OBJECTIVE AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: This article provides 2005-2008 population-based prevalence data on obesity and overweight among youth residing in Puerto Rico. Data for this report are from the Asthma, Depression, and Anxiety in Puerto Rican Youth (ADA) study. Measures included height and weight level data on youth in Puerto Rico aged 10 to 19 years with and without asthma as well as body mass index data on their caregivers. A total of 436 youth-caregiver dyads were selected and weighted to represent the general population of youth in Puerto Rico using 2008 US Census data. Household surveys demonstrated that 40% of youth aged 10 to 19 were overweight or obese. Twenty-five percent met moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity guidelines, however, physical activity was not associated with overweight or obesity in this sample. In multivariate analyses, females were 50% less likely than males to be overweight or obese. Older youth were 73% less likely to be overweight or obese than younger youth. Youth whose parents were obese were more than two times more likely to be overweight or obese than those whose parents were at a desirable weight. Youth in Puerto Rico have higher rates of overweight and obesity and lower compliance to moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity guidelines than rates reported for youth on the mainland. More population-based research is needed to understand the epidemiology of obesity and overweight among island Puerto Rican youth and the contribution of physical activity to the phenomenon.

  4. Illegal drug use and its correlates in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caetano, Raul; Vaeth, Patrice A C; Canino, Glorisa

    2018-04-01

    Data on the prevalence and correlates of illegal drug use in Puerto Rico are now almost 20 years old. This study sought to estimate the 12-month prevalence of illegal and non-prescribed medical drug use in San Juan, Puerto Rico and identify sociodemographic correlates of use. Data are from a random household sample of 1510 individuals, 18-64 years of age in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 12-month prevalence of any illegal or non-prescribed drug use was 16.5%. Prevalence among men (20.7%) was higher than among women (12.9%; chi 2  = 16.308; df = 1; p  .05) were negatively associated with drug use compared to annual income up to $10,000. As in many other places in the U.S., drug use in San Juan, Puerto Rico is high, affecting about 1 in 6 adults in the population. The highest prevalence is for marijuana use, which cannot be medically prescribed and of which recreational use is illegal on the island. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Puerto Rico Relative Vulnerability to Erosion

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Physical factors, such as the slope of the land, the texture of the soil, and the precipitation regime influence erosion in an area. Parts of Puerto Rico are very...

  6. Anthropology in a postcolonial colony: Helen I. Safa's contribution to Puerto Rican ethnography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duany, Jorge

    2010-01-01

    This article assesses Helen I. Safa's legacy to anthropological thought in Puerto Rico. The first part of the article locates Safa's research on the Island within a long tradition of fieldwork by U.S. scholars since the early twentieth century. More recent research, conducted mostly by Puerto Rican women anthropologists and other social scientists, has expanded upon Safa's insights on gender and work. The second part of the essay analyzes Safa's major empirical work, The Urban Poor of Puerto Rico: A Study in Development and Inequality. Above all, this book helped overcome the theoretical impasse over the culture of poverty that characterized much of urban anthropology during the 1960s and 1970s. The article concludes with an appraisal of the relevance of Safa's work for the ethnography of contemporary Puerto Rico.

  7. Soil bacterial communities of a calcium-supplemented and a reference watershed at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), New Hampshire, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganapathi Sridevi; Rakesh Minocha; Swathi A. Turlapati; Katherine C. Goldfarb; Eoin L. Brodie; Louis S. Tisa; Subhash C. Minocha

    2012-01-01

    Soil Ca depletion because of acidic deposition-related soil chemistry changes has led to the decline of forest productivity and carbon sequestration in the northeastern USA. In 1999, acidic watershed (WS) 1 at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), NH, USA was amended with Ca silicate to restore soil Ca pools. In 2006, soil samples were collected from the Ca-...

  8. The Island Image and Global Links in Puerto Rican Cinema of the 21st Century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Cristina Rodríguez

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available This essay looks back at the production of Puerto Rican films in the 1980s and 1990s as the point of departure for young Puerto Rican filmmakers in the first decades of the 21st century. Even as the stories of this newer generation differ, their concern with the island image and diasporic movement continue to question Puerto Rican identity. Problems of local film production and outside distribution remain for each film project. This essay analyzes a number of key films by a diverse group of directors whose goal is to rethink the concept of a Puerto Rican cinema.

  9. Psychosocial risk factors and asthma among adults in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Yueh-Ying; Forno, Erick; Canino, Glorisa; Celedón, Juan C

    2018-05-08

    Asthma and psychosocial stressors are common among Puerto Rican adults living in the United States. We estimated the prevalence of current asthma, and examined potential psychosocial risk factors and current asthma, among adults in Puerto Rico. Cross-sectional study of 3,049 Puerto Ricans aged 18-64 years living in Puerto Rico between May 2014 and June 2016. A structured interview was conducted to obtain information on demographics, lifestyles, mental disorders, and respiratory health. Current asthma was defined as self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma and still having asthma. Two-sample t tests (for continuous variables) or chi-square tests (for categorical variables) were used in bivariate analyses. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine psychosocial risk factors and current asthma. The estimated prevalence of current asthma was 10.2%. In a multivariable analysis, exposure to violence (odds ratio [OR] for each 1-point increment in a validated scale = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07 to 1.21) and a lifetime history of at least one suicide attempt (OR = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.80 to 5.01) were significantly associated with current asthma, independently of major depressive disorder. Moreover, a lifetime history of at least one suicide attempt was associated with co-existing asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (i.e. asthma-COPD overlap syndrome or ACOS (OR = 9.05, 95% CI = 3.32-24.67). Our findings suggest that asthma is a major health problem among adults in Puerto Rico, with psychosocial risk factors playing a significant role on asthma and ACOS. Addressing chronic stressors and mental illness should be part of comprehensive strategies to reduce asthma burden in this population.

  10. Overview of the Manitou Experimental Forest Observatory: Site description and selected science results from 2008 to 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. Ortega; A. Turnipseed; A. B. Guenther; T. G. Karl; D. A. Day; D. Gochis; J. A. Huffman; A. J. Prenni; E. J. T. Levin; S. M. Kreidenweis; P. J. DeMott; Y. Tobo; E. G. Patton; A. Hodzic; Y. Y. Cui; P. C. Harley; R. S. Hornbrook; E. C. Apel; R. K. Monson; A. S. D. Eller; J. P. Greenberg; M. C. Barth; P. Campuzano-Jost; B. B. Palm; J. L. Jimenez; A. C. Aiken; M. K. Dubey; C. Geron; J. Offenberg; M. G. Ryan; P. J. Fornwalt; S. C. Pryor; F. N. Keutsch; J. P. DiGangi; A. W. H. Chan; A. H. Goldstein; G. M. Wolfe; S. Kim; L. Kaser; R. Schnitzhofer; A. Hansel; C. A. Cantrell; R. L. Mauldin; J. N. Smith

    2014-01-01

    The Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics and Nitrogen (BEACHON) project seeks to understand the feedbacks and interrelationships between hydrology, biogenic emissions, carbon assimilation, aerosol properties, clouds and associated feedbacks within water-limited ecosystems. The Manitou Experimental Forest Observatory (MEFO) was...

  11. An Initial Review of the Characteristics and Determinants of Female Entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico Características y determinantes de mujeres empresarias en Puerto Rico: una mirada inicial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisela Santiago Castro

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper outlines the characteristics and determinants of Puerto Rican female entrepreneurs in 2007.  This study utilizes data from the Adult Population Survey (APS for 2007 from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM Project.  We find that female entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico are most likely sole owners of their business establishment, face many local competitors, and do not generally export their goods or services outside of the Island. The primary motivation for business start-up was business opportunism along with a personal goal of greater independence at the workplace.  Education serves as a fundamental determinant of female entrepreneurship. Este artículo describe las características y determinantes de mujeres empresarias en Puerto Rico para el 2007. El estudio utiliza los datos de la Encuesta de la Población Adulta del Proyecto de Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM, por sus siglas en inglés. Se encontró que las mujeres empresarias en Puerto Rico tienden a ser dueñas únicas de sus negocios, tienen muchos competidores locales, y usualmente no exportan sus bienes o servicios fuera de la Isla. La motivación primaria para empezar el negocio fue tener una oportunidad de negocio junto a una meta personal de mayor independencia en el lugar de trabajo. La educación es un determinante fundamental de ser empresaria en Puerto Rico.

  12. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (San Juan), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  13. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (East Culebra), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  14. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (La Pargue), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  15. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (La Parguera), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  16. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Cabo Rojo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  17. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Cabo Rojo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  18. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (East Culebra), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  19. Hero/Heroine Modeling for Puerto Rican Adolescents: A Preventive Mental Health Intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malgady, Robert G.; And Others

    1990-01-01

    Developed hero/heroine intervention based on adult Puerto Rican role models to foster ethnic identity, self-concept, and adaptive coping behavior. Screened 90 Puerto Rican eighth and ninth graders for presenting behavior problems in school and randomly assigned them to intervention or control groups. After 19 sessions, intervention significantly…

  20. La erradicación de la malaria en Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miranda Franco Rafael

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available For decades, malaria was a serious public health problem in Puerto Rico. In 1962, that country became the first tropical territory in the Americas, and possibly in the world, to receive certification from WHO for having eradicated malaria and having declared itself free of the disease. This report chronicles the tremendous effort that was dedicated to the eradication campaign in Puerto Rico, which took place in the first part of this century.

  1. A Transnational Colonial Migration: Puerto Rico’s Farm Labor Program

    OpenAIRE

    Jorge Duany

    2010-01-01

    In this article, the author defines Puerto Rico as a nation, an imagined community with its own territory, history, language, and culture. Nevertheless, the Island lacks a sovereign state, an independent government that represents the population of that territory. This unsovereign state has long sponsored population displacements from Puerto Rico to the United States. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, colonial officials embraced migration as a safety valve for the Island’s overpop...

  2. Changes in food habits in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Ávila

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Changements d’habitudes alimentaires à Puerto Vallarta (Mexique Située sur la côte Pacifique mexicaine, Puerto Vallarta est aujourd’hui une destination touristique réputée. Elle est également une destination gourmet, en raison de la variété et du raffinement de son « offre » gastronomique. Néanmoins, celle-ci ne représente qu’une partie de l’énorme éventail de possibilités culinaires cohabitant dans cette cité-port, résultat d’une transformation sociale vertigineuse qui s’est produite au cours des trois dernières décennies. Dans le texte qui suit, après une brève explication de l’évolution historique de Puerto Vallarta en relation avec l’arrivée de traditions culinaires extérieures, on tente de décrire la perception de cette nouvelle offre gastronomique chez les habitants locaux pour la mettre en rapport avec un possible ethos culturel local. On émet finalement l’hypothèse selon laquelle la juxtaposition des différentes offres gastronomiques locales n’est autre qu’une prolongation de certains « modèles alimentaires », génératrice d’une nouvelle identité socio-culturelle.Puerto Vallarta, located on the Mexican Pacific coast, is now a prestigious tourist destination. It is also considered a venue for gourmet cooks, due to the elaborate variety of gastronomy available. Nevertheless, what meets the eye is only part of a motley crowd of culinary possibilities that emerge simultaneously in this port, which in turn is the result of giddy social changes over the last three decades. The following text gives a brief explanation of the historic evolution of Puerto Vallarta regarding the introduction of different culinary traditions; it explores the perceptions of local inhabitants of these gastronomic innovations; these perceptions are duly related to a supposed local cultural ethos; and finally it proposes that the juxtaposition of what is on offer gastronomically is an extension of certain

  3. Soil respiration patterns in root gaps 27 years after small scale experimental disturbance in Pinus contorta forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, S.; Berryman, E.; Hawbaker, T. J.; Ewers, B. E.

    2015-12-01

    While much attention has been focused on large scale forest disturbances such as fire, harvesting, drought and insect attacks, small scale forest disturbances that create gaps in forest canopies and below ground root and mycorrhizal networks may accumulate to impact regional scale carbon budgets. In a lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forest near Fox Park, WY, clusters of 15 and 30 trees were removed in 1988 to assess the effect of tree gap disturbance on fine root density and nitrogen transformation. Twenty seven years later the gaps remain with limited regeneration present only in the center of the 30 tree plots, beyond the influence of roots from adjacent intact trees. Soil respiration was measured in the summer of 2015 to assess the influence of these disturbances on carbon cycling in Pinus contorta forests. Positions at the centers of experimental disturbances were found to have the lowest respiration rates (mean 2.45 μmol C/m2/s, standard error 0.17 C/m2/s), control plots in the undisturbed forest were highest (mean 4.15 μmol C/m2/s, standard error 0.63 C/m2/s), and positions near the margin of the disturbance were intermediate (mean 3.7 μmol C/m2/s, standard error 0.34 C/m2/s). Fine root densities, soil nitrogen, and microclimate changes were also measured and played an important role in respiration rates of disturbed plots. This demonstrates that a long-term effect on carbon cycling occurs when gaps are created in the canopy and root network of lodgepole forests.

  4. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: FISH (Fish Polygons)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  5. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: MGT (Management Areas)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  6. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: INVERT (Invertebrate Polygons)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  7. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: INVERT (Invertebrate Lines)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  8. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: FISHL (Fish Lines)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  9. Four New Ladybug Species Belonging to Decadiomus Chapin (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segarra-Carmona, A E; Otero, M

    2014-12-01

    While searching for native natural enemies attacking invasive insect pests in Puerto Rico, we found four undescribed ladybug species belonging to the Caribbean ladybug genus Decadiomus Chapin. In this article, we describe the following species from Puerto Rico: Decadiomus seini n. sp., Decadiomus ramosi n. sp., Decadiomus hayuyai n. sp., and Decadiomus martorelli n. sp. Illustrations of the dorsal habitus, shape of prosternal carinae, and drawings of male and female genitalia are presented. We also present a key for Diomini of Puerto Rico and discuss their importance as potential biocontrol agents.

  10. Hurricanes, climate change and the cholera epidemic in Puerto Rico of 1855-1856.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christenson, Bernard

    2008-01-01

    Hurricanes and global climate changes may affect the environmental factors of cholera dynamics in warm coastal areas, vulnerable to seasonal or sporadic outbreaks. The cholera epidemic of Puerto Rico in 1855-1856 had a profound effect on the Puerto Rican society; but it was not influenced by any climatic events, such as preceding hurricanes or storms based on past documentary sources. Particularly, the environmental non-toxigenic strains of Vibrio Cholerae in Puerto Rican water sources can maintain their pathogenic potential for sporadic or erratic toxigenic cholera outbreaks--if a "perfect storm" ever occurs.

  11. Comparison of the mineralogical effects of an experimental forest fire on a goethite/ferrihydrite soil with a topsoil that contains hematite, maghemite and goethite

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørnberg, Per; Vendelboe, Anders Lindblad; Gunnlaugsson, Haraldur Pall

    2009-01-01

    as the result of high temperature as found after forest fires. However, a body of evidence argues against these sites having been exposed to fire. In an attempt to get closer to an explanation of this Fe mineralogy, an experimental forest fire was produced. The results showed a clear mineralogical zonation down...... to 10 cm depth. This was not observed at the natural sites, which contained a mixture of goethite/ferrihydrite, hematite and maghemite down to 20 cm depth. The experimental forest fire left charcoal and ashes at the topsoil, produced high pH and decreased organic matter content, all of which...... is in contrast to the natural sites. The conclusion from this work is that the mineralogy of these sites is not consistent with exposure to forest fire, but may instead result from long-term transformation in a reducing environment, possibly involving microbiology....

  12. The Indians of Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saunders, Robert; And Others

    Produced for use in a coordinated program of studies for students in the Connecticut Migratory Children's Program and for other students whose native language is Spanish, this book about the Indians of Puerto Rico is intended as supplementary reading material for pre-school through fifth grade. The book, illustrated with black and white drawings,…

  13. Underuse of Radiation Therapy After Breast Conservation Surgery in Puerto Rico: A Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry–Health Insurance Linkage Database Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William W. Chance

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: To identify rates of postoperative radiation therapy (RT after breast conservation surgery (BCS in women with stage I or II invasive breast cancer treated in Puerto Rico and to examine the sociodemographic and health services characteristics associated with variations in receipt of RT. Methods: The Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry–Health Insurance Linkage Database was used to identify patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2008 and 2012 in Puerto Rico. Claims codes identified the type of surgery and the use of RT. Logistic regression models were used to examine the independent association between sociodemographic and clinical covariates. Results: Among women who received BCS as their primary definitive treatment, 64% received adjuvant RT. Significant predictors of RT after BCS included enrollment in Medicare (odds ratio [OR], 2.14; 95% CI, 1.46 to 3.13; P ≤ .01 and dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.14 to 2.27; P 2.0 cm and ≤ 5.0 cm (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.93; P = .02 and those with tumor size > 5.0 cm (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.92; P = .03 were found to be significantly less likely to receive RT. Conclusion: Underuse of RT after BCS was identified in Puerto Rico. Patients enrolled in Medicare and those who were dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare were more likely to receive RT after BCS compared with patients with Medicaid alone. There were geographic variations in the receipt of RT on the island.

  14. Estimated Bathymetry of the Puerto Rico shelf

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This classification of estimated depth represents the relative bathymetry of Puerto Rico's shallow waters based on Landsat imagery for NOAA's Coastal Centers for...

  15. Twenty-Five year (1982-2007) history of lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe animal vectors and ethephon control on the Fraser Experimental Forest in Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas. Nicholls

    2009-01-01

    This is a summary of the 25-year history of studies of mammal and bird vectors of lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum), ethephon control of dwarf mistletoe, and the ecology of the most important dwarf mistletoe vector, the gray jay (Persisoreus canadensis), on the USDA Forest Service, Fraser Experimental Forest...

  16. Initial Public Health Laboratory Response After Hurricane Maria - Puerto Rico, 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Concepción-Acevedo, Jeniffer; Patel, Anita; Luna-Pinto, Carolina; Peña, Rafael González; Cuevas Ruiz, Rosa Ivette; Arbolay, Héctor Rivera; Toro, Mayra; Deseda, Carmen; De Jesus, Victor R; Ribot, Efrain; Gonzalez, Jennifer-Quiñones; Rao, Gouthami; De Leon Salazar, Alfonsina; Ansbro, Marisela; White, Brunilís B; Hardy, Margaret C; Georgi, Joaudimir Castro; Stinnett, Rita; Mercante, Alexandra M; Lowe, David; Martin, Haley; Starks, Angela; Metchock, Beverly; Johnston, Stephanie; Dalton, Tracy; Joglar, Olga; Stafford, Cortney; Youngblood, Monica; Klein, Katherine; Lindstrom, Stephen; Berman, LaShondra; Galloway, Renee; Schafer, Ilana J; Walke, Henry; Stoddard, Robyn; Connelly, Robin; McCaffery, Elaine; Rowlinson, Marie-Claire; Soroka, Stephen; Tranquillo, Darin T; Gaynor, Anne; Mangal, Chris; Wroblewski, Kelly; Muehlenbachs, Atis; Salerno, Reynolds M; Lozier, Matthew; Sunshine, Brittany; Shapiro, Craig; Rose, Dale; Funk, Renee; Pillai, Satish K; O'Neill, Eduardo

    2018-03-23

    Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing major damage to infrastructure and severely limiting access to potable water, electric power, transportation, and communications. Public services that were affected included operations of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH), which provides critical laboratory testing and surveillance for diseases and other health hazards. PRDOH requested assistance from CDC for the restoration of laboratory infrastructure, surveillance capacity, and diagnostic testing for selected priority diseases, including influenza, rabies, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and tuberculosis. PRDOH, CDC, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) collaborated to conduct rapid needs assessments and, with assistance from the CDC Foundation, implement a temporary transport system for shipping samples from Puerto Rico to the continental United States for surveillance and diagnostic and confirmatory testing. This report describes the initial laboratory emergency response and engagement efforts among federal, state, and nongovernmental partners to reestablish public health laboratory services severely affected by Hurricane Maria. The implementation of a sample transport system allowed Puerto Rico to reinitiate priority infectious disease surveillance and laboratory testing for patient and public health interventions, while awaiting the rebuilding and reinstatement of PRDOH laboratory services.

  17. Separating the effects of forest type and elevation on the diversity of litter invertebrate communities in a humid tropical forest in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    BARBARA A. RICHARDSON; MICHAEL J. RICHARDSON; FELIPE N. SOTO-ADAMES

    2005-01-01

    1. The primary effects of climatic conditions on invertebrate litter communities, and the secondary effects of different forest types, were distinguished by using the sierra palm as a control in a natural experiment along an elevational gradient in the Luquillo Mountains. These mountains have three well-defined forest types along the gradient, with the palm occurring...

  18. The Spanish of Ponce, Puerto Rico: A Phonetic, Phonological, and Intonational Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luna, Kenneth Vladimir

    2010-01-01

    This study investigates four aspects of Puerto Rican Spanish as represented in the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce: the behavior of coda /[alveolar flap]/, the behavior of /r/, the different realizations of coda /s/, and its intonational phonology. Previous studies on Puerto Rican Spanish report that coda /[alveolar flap]/ is normally realized as…

  19. Is English a Language Barrier to Public Higher Education in Puerto Rico?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bischoff, Shannon

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this paper was to address the question, "Have the austerity measures enacted due to the global economic crisis impacted student enrollments at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez?" as Rodríguez (2011. "Social protest and the future of Higher Education in Puerto Rico." "Academe" 97(4).…

  20. Lessons Learned from the Puerto Rico Battery Energy Storage System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boyes, John D.; De Anda, Mindi Farber; Torres, Wenceslao

    1999-08-11

    The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) installed a battery energy storage system in 1994 at a substation near San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was patterned after two other large energy storage systems operated by electric utilities in California and Germany. The Puerto Rico facility is presently the largest operating battery storage system in the world and has successfully provided frequency control, voltage regulation, and spinning reseme to the Caribbean island. The system further proved its usefulness to the PREPA network in the fall of 1998 in the aftermath of Hurricane Georges. However, the facility has suffered accelerated cell failures in the past year and PREPA is committed to restoring the plant to full capacity. This represents the first repowering of a large utility battery facility. PREPA and its vendors and contractors learned many valuable lessons during all phases of project development and operation, which are summarized in this paper.

  1. Energy Colonialism Powers the Ongoing Unnatural Disaster in Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catalina M. de Onís

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available On September 20, 2017, Hurricane María made landfall in Puerto Rico. Blasting the Caribbean archipelago with 155-mile/h winds, this, in many ways, unnatural disaster exposed the brutal consequences of energy colonialism and an extractivist economy, as well as ongoing and increasing advocacy for decentralized solar infrastructure by many local residents and other renewables supporters. This paper argues that acknowledging colonial power relations and their consequences is essential for studying the interplay of energy systems, environments, and actors. To support this claim, this essay outlines Puerto Rico’s history as a US colony by focusing on key policies and their implications; examines openings for and barriers to decentralized, community solar in Puerto Rico; and concludes by discussing future research directions on just energy transitions and the imperative of uprooting colonialism and agitating for community self-determination and energy justice in these transformations.

  2. Disproportionate impact of diabetes in a Puerto Rican community of Chicago.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitman, Steve; Silva, Abigail; Shah, Ami M

    2006-12-01

    We assessed the impact of diabetes in a large Puerto Rican community of Chicago by measuring the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes and calculating the diabetes mortality rate. Data were analyzed from a comprehensive health survey conducted in randomly selected households in community areas. Questions on diagnosed diabetes and selected risk factors were asked. In addition, vital records data were analyzed in order to calculate the age-adjusted diabetes mortality rate. When possible, rates were compared to those found in other studies. The diabetes prevalence located in this community (20.8%: 95% CI = 10.1%-38.0%) is the highest ever reported for Puerto Ricans and one of the highest ever reported in the United States for a non-Native American population. For instance, it is twice the prevalence for Puerto Ricans in New York (11.3%) and Puerto Rico (9.3%-9.6%). Diagnosed diabetes was found to be significantly associated with obesity (p = 0.023). The prevalence was particularly high among older people, females, those born in the US, and those with a family history of diabetes. Notably, the diabetes mortality rate (67.6 per 100,000 population) was more than twice the rate for all of Chicago (31.2) and the US (25.4). Understanding why the diabetes prevalence and mortality rates for Puerto Ricans in this community are so much higher than those of other communities is imperative for primary and secondary prevention. Collaboration between researchers, service providers and community members can help address the issues of diabetes education, early screening and diagnosis, and effective treatment needed in this community.

  3. Disseminated toxoplasmosis in Antillean manatees Trichechus manatus manatus from Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bossart, Gregory D.; Mignucci-Ginannoni, Antonio A.; Rivera-Guzman, Antonio L.; Jimenez-Marrero, Nilda M.; Camus, Alvin C.; Bonde, Robert K.; Dubey, Jitender P.; Reif, John S.

    2012-01-01

    Necropsies were conducted on 4 Antillean manatees Trichechus manatus manatus that were stranded in single events on the coastal beaches of Puerto Rico from August 2010 to August 2011. Three manatees were emaciated and the gastrointestinal tracts were devoid of digesta. Microscopically, all manatees had severe widespread inflammatory lesions of the gastrointestinal tract and heart with intralesional tachyzoites consistent with Toxoplasma gondii identified by histological, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical techniques. The gastrointestinal lesions included severe, multifocal to diffuse, chronic-active enteritis, colitis and/or gastritis often with associated ulceration, necrosis and hemorrhage. Enteric leiomyositis was severe and locally extensive in all cases and associated with the most frequently observed intralesional protozoans. Moderate to severe, multifocal, chronic to chronic-active, necrotizing myocarditis was also present in all cases. Additionally, less consistent inflammatory lesions occurred in the liver, lung and a mesenteric lymph node and were associated with fewer tachyzoites. Sera (n = 30) collected from free-ranging and captive Puerto Rican manatees and a rehabilitated/released Puerto Rican manatee from 2003 to 2012 were tested for antibodies for T. gondii. A positive T. gondii antibody titer was found in 2004 in 1 (3%) of the free-ranging cases tested. Disease caused by T. gondii is rare in manatees. This is the first report of toxoplasmosis in Antillean manatees from Puerto Rico. Additionally, these are the first reported cases of disseminated toxoplasmosis in any sirenian. The documentation of 4 cases of toxoplasmosis within one year and the extremely low seroprevalence to T. gondiisuggest that toxoplasmosis may be an emerging disease in Antillean manatees from Puerto Rico.

  4. Shapefile of the bathymetric contours of Lago Lucchetti, Puerto Rico, September 2013-May 2014

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of the Interior — The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a sedimentation survey of Lago Lucchetti, Yauco, Puerto Rico, in 2013–14 in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer...

  5. The experimental design of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steven L. Sheriff; Shuoqiong. He

    1997-01-01

    The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is an experiment that examines the effects of three forest management practices on the forest community. MOFEP is designed as a randomized complete block design using nine sites divided into three blocks. Treatments of uneven-aged, even-aged, and no-harvest management were randomly assigned to sites within each block...

  6. Environmental policy and industrialization: The politics of regulation in Puerto Rico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Concepcion, C.M.

    1990-01-01

    The effects of economic development on environmental regulation in Puerto Rico are examined. In particular, the research analyzes how the Puerto Rican industrialization process has affected implementation of the environmental-review process. Puerto Rico exemplifies an acute conflict between an industrialization process based on capital-intensive, highly polluting industries, and a regulatory framework of insular and US environmental laws and regulations. While industrialization has not solved unemployment problems on the island, environmental and health hazards have increased significantly, despite environmental regulations. The study focuses on a change in the environmental review process in response to economic development concerns. In particular, it examines the growth and extensive use of a new environmental review document, the Environmental Assessment. This study explains this policy shift and, more fundamentally, analyzes how and under what circumstances this change came about

  7. Looking Back to Move Forward: Collaborative Planning to Revise the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests Land and Resource Management Plans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael J Dockry

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (forest plans form the basis for land and resource management of national forests in the United States. For more than a decade the Forest Service has been attempting to incorporate innovative, collaborative public involvement strategies into the process for revising forest plans. In 2012 and 2015 the Forest Service codified new regulations for developing, revising, and amending forest plans. Collaboration and public involvement are explicit goals of the new regulations. This paper briefly reviews the literature on collaborative planning on national forests and explores a successful collaborative planning process used by the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, located in Vermont and New York respectively, to develop their 2006 forest plans. This paper shows how the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests developed parallel public and internal collaborative processes to build trust, relationships, and partnership, and discusses the implications for process design, capacity building, and facilitating agreements. By looking back at this successful case of collaborative forest planning, key lessons can provide ideas for developing collaborative processes for future planning efforts.

  8. Emigration From Puerto Rico to Florida: Multivariate Analysis of Factors That Condition Attitudes of the Puerto Rican Population Toward Organ Donation for Transplant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ríos, A; López-Navas, A I; Sánchez, Á; Martínez-Alarcón, L; Ayala, M A; Garrido, G; Sebastián, M J; Ramis, G; Hernández, A M; Ramírez, P; Parrilla, P

    2018-03-01

    The Puerto Rican population represents one of the largest immigration groups in Florida, and this has an impact on the organ transplant donation process. Our aim was to analyze attitudes toward organ donation among Puerto Ricans who currently reside in the state of Florida (USA). The population screened consisted of individuals >15 years old, who were born in Puerto Rico, living in Florida, and awaiting organs for transplant. All participants completed the "PCID-DTO Rios" questionnaire. Random selection was done according to stratification. Support from immigration associations in Spain was needed for advice on the locations of potential respondents. Study participation was anonymized and self-administered. There were 259 respondents, 37% (n = 95) were in favor of donation, 36% (n = 93) were against donation, and 27% (n = 71) were undecided. The variables associated with these attitudes were: age (P = .017); civil status (P = .021); level of education (P donation and transplant (P donation of a relative (P donation (P donation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isla de Desecheo), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  10. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isla de Mona), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  11. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isla de Vieques), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  12. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isla de Vieques), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  13. Benthic Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Photomosaic of Puerto Rico (Isla de Culebra), 1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial...

  14. The Puerto Ricans--Two Communities, One Culture. (Los Puertorriquenos--Dos Comunidades, Una Cultura.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vivo, Paquita

    1980-01-01

    Puerto Rican roots stem from the ethnic mixture of Indians, Europeans, and Africans. This article describes the advent of each of the groups on the island, the historical and cultural impact each made, and the retention of heritage among Puerto Rican migrants to the U.S. (DS)

  15. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a native Puerto Rican patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Pilar-Morales, Esteban A; Cali, Ignazio; Chapas, Javier; Bertrán-Pasarell, Jorge; Puoti, Gianfranco; Gambetti, Pierluigi; Nobo, Ulises

    2015-03-01

    The diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is often a challenge for most physicians given its extremely low incidence and different clinico-pathological presentations. We report the case of a 56-year old patient native to Puerto Rico suspected of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCD). The symptoms at onset were notorious for bilateral cortical blindness followed by rapidly progressive cognitive decline, visual deficit, increased levels of CSF 14-3-3 and tau along with positive brain MRI and EEG, are highly indicative of CJD. The definite diagnosis was confirmed by the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC), in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Lack of genetic mutations in the prion protein (PrP) gene, widespread histopathological changes and the accumulation of scrapie PrP (PrPSc) in the brain confirmed the diagnosis of sCJD. The patient, admitted to our institution in 2011, represents the first detailed report of sCJD in a native Puerto Rican patient living in Puerto Rico.

  16. Boricua de pura cepa: Ethnic identity, cultural stress and self-concept in Puerto Rican youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhen-Duan, Jenny; Jacquez, Farrah; Sáez-Santiago, Emily

    2018-05-17

    The available literature on ethnic identity among Puerto Ricans has focused on those living in the United States, with little to no attention placed on examining ethnic identity and psychological constructs among youth living in Puerto Rico. Using a colonial mentality framework, the current study examined the associations between ethnic identity, cultural stress, and self-concept among adolescent boys and girls living in Puerto Rico. The current cross-sectional study surveyed participants (N = 187) recruited from several junior high schools in the metropolitan area in Puerto Rico. Relations between ethnic identity, cultural stress, and self-concept differed by gender. First, cultural stress was associated with self-concept for boys, such that higher cultural stress predicted lower self-concept. Second, among girls, cultural stress moderated the relation between ethnic identity and self-concept. Specifically, for girls experiencing high cultural stress, exploration and resolution of their ethnic identity was associated with higher ratings of self-concept. Although cultural stress has been widely understood as a phenomena associated with immigrants, our study indicated that cultural stress is important in understanding self-concept of youth living in Puerto Rico. For boys, cultural stress, but not ethnic identity, is particularly important to their self-concept. Among girls experiencing high cultural stress, exploration and resolution of ethnic identity was associated with higher self-concept. Results suggested that the cultural stress associated with the colonial context of Puerto Rico is salient in ethnic identity and self-concept development, even though Puerto Rican youth are the ethnic majority in the island. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Bibliometric assessment of cancer research in Puerto Rico, 1903-2005 Evaluación bibliométrica de la investigación sobre cáncer en Puerto Rico, 1903-2005

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana P. Ortiz

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE:The analysis of scientific production in Puerto Rico is largely unexplored. The main aim of this study is to present the characteristics and trends of cancer publications in Puerto Rico's biomedical journals and their relationship with the island's cancer mortality. METHODS:A PubMed and a hard-copy search were performed to retrieve cancer-related articles published in the Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal and the Boletín de la Asociación Médica de Puerto Rico from 1903 to 2005. Bibliometric indicators studied included the number of authors and references by article, first author's institutional affiliation and country, document type, and language. The study type and tumor classification were also recorded. Cancer proportional mortality (M% in Puerto Rico and the proportion of cancer-related articles (P% published were also evaluated. The annual percent change (APC was estimated to assess trends. RESULTS:A total of 369 articles were retrieved. The institutions with the majority of publications were universities (39.6%, English was the predominant publication language (72.1%, and the principal document type was original papers (69.6%. Epidemiologic studies were the dominant study type (62.1%, and the most studied cancers were digestive (15.4% and gynecologic (9.6%. Although the P% has increased since 1913 (APC = 1.2%, the M% increased at a faster pace (APC = 2.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Although a growth in the number of cancer publications is observed in these journals, it does not parallel the increase in proportional mortality. A better understanding of the cancer publications in Puerto Rico is essential to establish priorities, define future areas of research, and develop cancer control strategies.OBJETIVO: El análisis de la producción científica de Puerto Rico está aún en gran parte pendiente. El objetivo principal de este estudio es presentar las características y las tendencias de las publicaciones sobre cáncer en las revistas

  18. Long-term calcium addition increases growth release, wound closure, and health of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brett A. Huggett; Paul G. Schaberg; Gary J. Hawley; Christopher Eager

    2007-01-01

    We surveyed and wounded forest-grown sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) trees in a long-term, replicated Ca manipulation study at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA. Plots received applications of Ca (to boost Ca availability above depleted ambient levels) or A1 (to compete with Ca uptake and further reduce Ca availability...

  19. 7 CFR 319.73-3 - Conditions for transit movement of certain products through Puerto Rico or Hawaii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... through Puerto Rico or Hawaii. 319.73-3 Section 319.73-3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of... or Hawaii. (a) Mail. Samples of unroasted coffee that are transiting Hawaii or Puerto Rico en route.... These samples must be returned to origin or forwarded to a destination outside Hawaii or Puerto Rico in...

  20. Epidemiological Profile of Hispanics Admitted With Acute Myocardial Infarction in Puerto Rico: The Experience of 2007, 2009 and 2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez-Suarez, Dagmar F; Osterman-Pla, Anthony D; Carrasquillo, Onelys; Aranda, Juan; Baez, Stella; Lopez, Mariel; Garcia-Rivera, Enid J

    2017-06-01

    A limited number of studies have been published about coronary artery disease in Hispanics, particularly among the Puerto Rican population. The aim of this study was to present a clinical epidemiological profile and management practices in patients hospitalized in Puerto Rico with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This secondary data analysis from the Puerto Rico Cardiovascular Surveillance Study included 6,162 patients at 19 hospitals in Puerto Rico, during years 2007, 2009 and 2011. The mean age of the patients diagnosed with AMI was 67 ± 13.6 years old, with women being older than men (P Puerto Rico.

  1. Language Policy in Puerto Rico's Higher Education: Opening the Door for Translanguaging Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Kevin S.; Mazak, Catherine M.

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates the relationship between meso university language policies in Puerto Rico and their micro instantiations in an undergraduate psychology classroom. We describe a typology of language policies used by 38 universities and campuses in Puerto Rico where their openness allows for flexible implementation of everyday micro policy.…

  2. Perspectives of Puerto Rican Adults about Heart Health and a Potential Community Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todorova, Irina L. G.; Tejada, Shirley; Castaneda-Sceppa, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    Background: Puerto Ricans are the second largest Hispanic group in the United States, and older adults have significant health disparities. Educational programs that address heart disease risk for this population have rarely been developed and implemented. Purpose: To address this gap, the Heart Healthy Initiative for Puerto Rican adults is being…

  3. Plant responses to simulated hurricane impacts in a subtropical wet forest, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaron B. Shiels; Jess K. Zimmerman; Diana C. García-Montiel; Inge Jonckheere; Jennifer Holm; David Horton; Nicholas. Brokaw

    2010-01-01

    1. We simulated two key components of severe hurricane disturbance, canopy openness and detritus deposition, to determine the independent and interactive effects of these components on woody plant recruitment and forest structure. 2. We increased canopy openness by trimming branches and added or subtracted canopy detritus in a factorial design. Plant responses were...

  4. Volume and weight characteristics of a typical Douglas-fir/ western larch stand, Coram Experimental Forest, Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert E. Benson; Joyce A. Schlieter

    1980-01-01

    An over-mature Douglas-fir/western larch stand on the Coram Experimental Forest in Montana averaged about 7,300 ft3/acre (511 rn3/ha) of wood over 3 inches (7.62 cm) in diameter, and an additional 57 tons/acre (128/ha) of fine material, before harvest. After logging, using three different cutting methods and four different levels of utilization, wood residues ranged...

  5. Invertebrates of The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Western Cascades, Oregon: I. An annotated checklist of fleas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert E. Lewis; Chris Maser

    1981-01-01

    During a trapping survey of small mammals (approximately 3,000 individuals), species of fleas (1,632 specimens) were collected in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Western Cascades, Oregon. Host mammals were represented by 15 species—6 insectivores and 9 rodents captured from June through September. The collections extend our knowledge of the fauna of Oregon.

  6. Estimated prevalence of dengue viremia in Puerto Rican blood donations, 1995 through 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Lyle R; Tomashek, Kay M; Biggerstaff, Brad J

    2012-08-01

    Dengue virus (DENV) nucleic acid amplification testing of blood donations during epidemics in endemic locations, including Puerto Rico, has suggested possible sizable transfusion transmission risk. Estimates of the long-term prevalence of DENV viremic donations will help evaluate the potential magnitude of this risk in Puerto Rico. Estimates of the prevalence of DENV viremia in the Puerto Rican population at large from 1995 through 2010 were derived from dengue case reports and their onset dates obtained from islandwide surveillance, estimates of case underreporting, and extant data on the duration of DENV viremia and the unapparent-to-apparent dengue infection ratio. Under the assumptions that viremia prevalence in blood donors was similar to that of the population at large and that symptomatic persons do not donate, statistical resampling methods were used to estimate the prevalence of dengue viremia in blood donations. Over the 16-year period, the maximum and mean daily prevalences of dengue viremia (per 10,000) in blood donations in Puerto Rico were estimated at 45.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 36.5-55.4) and 7.0 (95% CI, 3.9-10.1), respectively. Prevalence varied considerably by season and year. These data suggest a substantial prevalence of DENV viremia in Puerto Rican blood donations, particularly during outbreaks. © 2012 American Association of Blood Banks.

  7. SalHUD--A Graphical Interface to Public Health Data in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz-Zuazaga, Humberto G; Arce-Corretjer, Roberto; Solá-Sloan, Juan M; Conde, José G

    2015-12-22

    This paper describes SalHUD, a prototype web-based application for visualizing health data from Puerto Rico. Our initial focus was to provide interactive maps displaying years of potential life lost (YPLL). The public-use mortality file for year 2008 was downloaded from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics website. Data was processed with R, Python and EpiInfo to calculate years of potential life lost for the leading causes of death on each of the 78 municipalities in the island. Death records were classified according to ICD-10 codes. YPLL for each municipality was integrated into AtlasPR, a D3 Javascript map library. Additional Javascript, HTML and CSS programing was required to display maps as a web-based interface. YPLL for all municipalities are displayed on a map of Puerto Rico for each of the ten leading causes of death and for all causes combined, so users may dynamically explore the impact of premature mortality. This work is the first step in providing the general public in Puerto Rico with user-friendly, interactive, visual access to public health data that is usually published in numerical, text-based media.

  8. SalHUD—A Graphical Interface to Public Health Data in Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Humberto G. Ortiz-Zuazaga

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: This paper describes SalHUD, a prototype web-based application for visualizing health data from Puerto Rico. Our initial focus was to provide interactive maps displaying years of potential life lost (YPLL. Methods: The public-use mortality file for year 2008 was downloaded from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics website. Data was processed with R, Python and EpiInfo to calculate years of potential life lost for the leading causes of death on each of the 78 municipalities in the island. Death records were classified according to ICD-10 codes. YPLL for each municipality was integrated into AtlasPR, a D3 Javascript map library. Additional Javascript, HTML and CSS programing was required to display maps as a web-based interface. Results: YPLL for all municipalities are displayed on a map of Puerto Rico for each of the ten leading causes of death and for all causes combined, so users may dynamically explore the impact of premature mortality. Discussion: This work is the first step in providing the general public in Puerto Rico with user-friendly, interactive, visual access to public health data that is usually published in numerical, text-based media.

  9. Women's employment and changing gender relations in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Alice Colón

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses Helen Safa's analyses of the impact of development strategies and social policies on gender relations and women headed families in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. The discussion focuses on findings of a research project regarding patterns of women's employment, autonomy, marital relations, family headship and poverty in Puerto Rico in the decade beginning in the year 2000, using excerpts from interviews conducted with women workers displaced from a clothing and a tuna factory between 2001 and 2002 (Colón et al. 2008), as well as data from the Public Use Sample (PUMS) of the U.S. Census Puerto Rico Community Survey 2005-2007. It is argued that women's employment has resulted in advances in women's autonomy, gender equity, and renegotiations of the provider role, but, intensified by men's unstable earnings, it has also led to the increase of female family headship even among married women. Women's education and employment have been an important means of reducing family poverty both among dual earner families and female heads. Yet, the continuing joblessness in the Island places even higher educated sectors on the verge of economic precariousness.

  10. Traits and Resource Use of Co-Occurring Introduced and Native Trees in a Tropical Novel Forest

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jéssica Fonseca da Silva

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Novel forests are naturally regenerating forests that have established on degraded lands and have a species composition strongly influenced by introduced species. We studied ecophysiological traits of an introduced species (Castilla elastica Sessé and several native species growing side by side in novel forests dominated by C. elastica in Puerto Rico. We hypothesized that C. elastica has higher photosynthetic capacity and makes more efficient use of resources than co-occurring native species. Using light response curves, we found that the photosynthetic capacity of C. elastica is similar to that of native species, and that different parameters of the curves reflected mostly sun light variation across the forest strata. However, photosynthetic nitrogen use-efficiency as well as leaf area/mass ratios were higher for C. elastica, and both the amount of C and N per unit area were lower, highlighting the different ecological strategies of the introduced and native plants. Presumably, those traits support C. elastica’s dominance over native plants in the study area. We provide empirical data on the ecophysiology of co-occurring plants in a novel forest, and show evidence that different resource-investment strategies co-occur in this type of ecosystem.

  11. Ecological restoration experiments (1992-2007) at the G.A. Pearson Natural Area, Fort Valley Experimental Forest (P-53)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margaret M. Moore; Wallace Covington; Peter Z. Fulé; Stephen C. Hart; Thomas E. Kolb; Joy N. Mast; Stephen S. Sackett; Michael R. Wagner

    2008-01-01

    In 1992 an experiment was initiated at the G. A. Pearson Natural Area on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest to evaluate long-term ecosystem responses to two restoration treatments: thinning only and thinning with prescribed burning. Fifteen years of key findings about tree physiology, herbaceous, and ecosystem responses are presented.

  12. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: T_MAMMAL (Terrestrial Mammals)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  13. Puerto Rico ESI and RSI: SHELFBND (Shelf Boundary)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  14. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: BENTHIC (Benthic Marine Habitats)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  15. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: REPTILES (Reptiles and Amphibians)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  16. 76 FR 1192 - Notice of a Change in Status of an Extended Benefit (EB) Period for Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-07

    ... Extended Benefit (EB) Period for Puerto Rico AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor. ACTION... Puerto Rico. The following change has occurred since the publication of the last notice regarding the State's EB status: Puerto Rico's 13-week IUR has fallen below the 6% threshold and does not equal or...

  17. Tortuguero Bay [Puerto Rico] environmental studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, E.D.; Youngbluth, M.J.; Nutt, M.E.; Yoshioka, P.; Canoy, M.J.

    1975-01-01

    Site selection surveys and environmental research studies of seven coastal sites in Puerto Rico for construction of power generating facilities were carried out. Data are presented on the physical, chemical, and geological parameters of the Tortuguero Bay site, and the ecological parameters of zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, plant and fish communities. (U.S.)

  18. Diet of the non-native spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damien Bontemps; Elvira Cuevas; Eileen Ortiz; Joseph Wunderle Jr.; Rafael Joglar

    2016-01-01

    The spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) was introduced to Puerto Rico over 50 years ago with the Tortuguero Lagoon Natural Reserve (TLNR) as its epicenter, where it is now established as an apex predator. Although concerns have been raised regarding the potential impact of this naturalized predator on Puerto Rico’s native fauna, little was known of the caiman’s diet...

  19. Tourism and climate conditions in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2000-2010

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The general behavior of the tourism sector in Puerto Rico, with its marked seasonality, hints at a close relationship between tourism activities and climate conditions. Even if weather condition is only one of many variables considered by travelling tourists, climate conditions weigh heavily in the majority of the decisions. The effect of climate variability on the environment could be manifested in warmer temperature, heat waves, and changes in the frequency of extreme weather events, such as severe storms and hurricanes, floods, and sea level rise. These conditions affect different sectors of society, among them public health and the economy. Therefore, our research has two main objectives: to establish a tourism climate index (TCI for Puerto Rico and to analyze if occupancy rates in hotels correspond to local weather conditions. Even though there are many other variables that could have positive or negative effects on tourism activities, results showed a significant association between occupancy rate in Puerto Rico and climate indexes. According to both TCI and the mean historical climate for tourism indexes, the most favorable months for tourism in Puerto Rico were February and March (winter, whereas the worst season was the end of August and the beginning of September (summer-fall. Although winter represents dry conditions and lower temperatures in San Juan, it also represents the highest occupancy rate during the years examined. In summer and fall, data showed high occupancy rates, yet climate conditions were not suitable; these months also correspond to the hurricane season. During this season, high relative occupancy rates responded to internal and local tourism patterns. It can therefore be assumed that until the climate-tourism relationship is well characterized, there is little hope of fully understanding the potential economic effects, detrimental or beneficial, of global climate change, not only on tourism in Puerto Rico, but on

  20. Food Insecurity Is Associated with Acculturation and Social Networks in Puerto Rican Households

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhokarh, Rajanigandha; Himmelgreen, David A.; Peng, Yu-Kuei; Segura-Perez, Sofia; Hromi-Fiedler, Amber; Perez-Escamilla, Rafael

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To examine whether acculturation and social networks influence household food insecurity in an inner-city Puerto Rican community. Methods: A survey was administered to 200 low-income female Puerto Rican caregivers with at least 1 child 12-72 months old living in Hartford, CT. Food insecurity was measured with the Radimer/Cornell Hunger…

  1. Translation, adaptation, and validation of the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deynes-Exclusa, Yazmin; Sayers-Montalvo, Sean K; Martinez-Taboas, Alfonso

    2011-04-01

    The only hypnotizability scale that has been translated and validated for the Puerto Rican population is the Barber Suggestibility Scale (BSS). In this article, the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale (SHCS) was translated and validated for this population. The translated SHCS ("Escala Stanford de Hipnosis Clinica" [ESHC]) was administered individually to 100 Puerto Rican college students. There were no significant differences found between the norms of the original SHCS samples and the Spanish version of the SHCS. Both samples showed similar distributions. The Spanish version's internal reliability as well as the item discrimination index were adequate. The authors conclude that the ESHC is an adequate instrument to measure hypnotizability in the Puerto Rican population.

  2. Impacts of forest management on runoff and erosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    William J. Elliot; Brandon D. Glaza

    2009-01-01

    In a parallel study, ten small watersheds (about 5 ha) were installed in the Priest River Experimental Forest (PREF) in northern Idaho, and another ten were installed in the Boise Basin Experimental Forest (BBEF) in central Idaho. The long-term objective of the study is to compare the effects of different forest management activities on runoff and...

  3. Effects of nitrogen additions on above- and belowground carbon dynamics in two tropical forests

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cusack, D.; Silver, W.L.; Torn, M.S.; McDowell, W.H.

    2011-04-15

    Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is increasing rapidly in tropical regions, adding N to ecosystems that often have high background N availability. Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, yet the effects of N deposition on C cycling in these ecosystems are poorly understood. We used a field N-fertilization experiment in lower and upper elevation tropical rain forests in Puerto Rico to explore the responses of above- and belowground C pools to N addition. As expected, tree stem growth and litterfall productivity did not respond to N fertilization in either of these Nrich forests, indicating a lack of N limitation to net primary productivity (NPP). In contrast, soil C concentrations increased significantly with N fertilization in both forests, leading to larger C stocks in fertilized plots. However, different soil C pools responded to N fertilization differently. Labile (low density) soil C fractions and live fine roots declined with fertilization, while mineral-associated soil C increased in both forests. Decreased soil CO2 fluxes in fertilized plots were correlated with smaller labile soil C pools in the lower elevation forest (R2 = 0.65, p\\0.05), and with lower live fine root biomass in the upper elevation forest (R2 = 0.90, p\\0.05). Our results indicate that soil C storage is sensitive to N deposition in tropical forests, even where plant productivity is not N-limited. The mineral-associated soil C pool has the potential to respond relatively quickly to N additions, and can drive increases in bulk soil C stocks in tropical forests.

  4. Toward a Puerto Rican popular nosology: nervios and ataque de nervios.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarnaccia, Peter J; Lewis-Fernández, Roberto; Marano, Melissa Rivera

    2003-09-01

    This paper is about naming illnesses--about who determines what categories are used and the implications of these determinations. The central concerns of medical/psychiatric anthropology have been to understand popular categories of and systems for classification of illness, to examine the relationship of illness categories to cultural understandings of the body, and to interpret the role of categories of illness in mediating between the personal and social spheres. At the same time, the paper also discusses the interplay of popular categories and psychiatric diagnoses. This paper examines the multiple experiences of nervios among Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and New York City. Our contention is that nervios is more than a diffuse idiom of distress, and that there are different categories and experiences of nervios which provide insights into how distress is experienced and expressed by Puerto Ricans and point to different social sources of suffering. The data in this paper come from the responses to a series of open-ended questions which tapped into people's general conceptions of nervios and ataques de nervios. These questions were incorporated into follow-up interviews to an epidemiological study of the mental health of adults in Puerto Rico. The results suggest ways to incorporate these different categories of nervios into future research and clinical work with different Latino groups in the United States and in their home countries.

  5. International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) in Puerto Rico: Progress Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pantoja, C. A.; Atschuler, D. R.; Lebrón, M. E.; Alonso, J. L.

    2010-08-01

    The IYA2009 inauguration in Puerto Rico was in January 2009. The local organizing committee includes members from the NASA Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium, the Arecibo Observatory, the two astronomical societies of the island, private and public universities, local government agencies, and non-profit organizations interested in science education. The events are throughout the island, taking care to facilitate the participation of families and youth from disadvantaged communities. All the activities emphasize the value of personal effort to achieve your goals, the importance of mathematics in modern life and the development of scientific awareness. Aligned with the IYA2009 major goals and considering the particular needs of our community, we have selected eight core activities for Puerto Rico. Three of them have been completed (Inauguration, Theatrical performance of "La Vida en Marte y otras Crueles Realidades", 40th Anniversary of the first human on the Moon), three of them are underway (star parties, conference series, "From Earth to the Universe" (FETTU) exhibition) and the other two are under plan for the fall of 2009. A group of volunteer students ("Starry Messengers") are assisting in the activities. We present a project plan for the rest of 2009. The details of the Puerto Rico IYA events may be found at \\url{http://www.astronomy2009pr.org}.

  6. Molasses crisis in the Puerto Rico rum industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Samuels, G

    1980-01-01

    In 1978 the Puerto Rico rum industry provided 85% of the US rum market, returning to the PR treasury $200 million in Federal excise taxes. The diminishing P.R. sugar industry is not able to supply sufficient blackstrap molasses (BSM) to the expanding P.R. rum industry, and at present imports from foreign suppliers amount to 88% of its needs. These imports place the rum industry in jeopardy, as these suppliers can boycott Puerto Rico to protect their own rum production, or they can insist by treaty that all rums claiming geographic origin (i.e., Puerto Rico rum) must be distilled from molasses produced in that country. Possible solutions to improve domestic molasses production are presented to eliminate these threats. The use of high-test molasses (HTM) would answer the present and future needs of the rum industry if produced by the energy cane (or biomass) concept. This is a management concept stressing total growth potential rather than sugar. It would permit doubling cane production per acre and produce sufficient HTM on 70,000 acres for the projected rum industry requirements. Considerations of HTM production show that problems exist with the marketing price rather than in the field or factory. The economics of HTM pricing will have to be worked out by the interested parties: the rum industry, the sugar industry, and the government.

  7. Managing the forest for more than the trees: effects of experimental timber harvest on forest Lepidoptera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Summerville, Keith S

    2011-04-01

    Studies of the effects of timber harvest on forest insect communities have rarely considered how disturbance from a range of harvest levels interacts with temporal variation in species diversity to affect community resistance to change. Here I report the results of a landscape-scale, before-and-after, treatment-control experiment designed to test how communities of forest Lepidoptera experience (1) changes in species richness and composition and (2) shifts in species dominance one year after logging. I sampled Lepidoptera from 20 forest stands allocated to three harvest treatments (control, even-aged shelterwood or clearcuts, and uneven-aged group selection cuts) within three watersheds at Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Indiana, USA. Moths were sampled from all forest stands one year prior to harvest in 2007 and immediately post-harvest in 2009. Species composition was most significantly affected by temporal variation between years, although uneven-aged management also caused significant changes in lepidopteran community structure. Furthermore, species richness of Lepidoptera was higher in 2007 compared to 2009 across all watersheds and forest stands. The decrease in species richness between years, however, was much larger in even-aged and uneven-aged management units compared to the control. Furthermore, matrix stands within the even-aged management unit demonstrated the highest resistance to species loss within any management unit. Species dominance was highly resistant to effects of timber harvest, with pre- and post-harvest values for Simpson diversity nearly invariant. Counter to prediction, however, the suite of dominant taxa differed dramatically among the three management units post-harvest. My results suggest that temporal variation may have strong interactions with timber harvest, precipitating loss of nearly 50% species richness from managed stands regardless of harvest level. Even-aged management, however, appeared to leave the smallest "footprint" on moth

  8. Adapting Tropical Forest Policy and Practice in the Context of the Anthropocene: Opportunities and Challenges for the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen A. McGinley

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Tropical forest management increasingly is challenged by multiple, complex, intersecting, and in many cases unprecedented changes in the environment that are triggered by human activity. Many of these changes are associated with the Anthropocene—a new geologic epoch in which humans have become a dominating factor in shaping the biosphere. Ultimately, as human activity increasingly influences systems and processes at multiple scales, we are likely to see more extraordinary and surprising events, making it difficult to predict the future with the level of precision and accuracy needed for broad-scale management prescriptions. In this context of increasing surprise and uncertainty, learning, flexibility, and adaptiveness are essential to securing ecosystem resilience and sustainability, particularly in complex systems such as tropical forests. This article examines the experience to date with and potential for collaborative, adaptive land and resource management in the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF—the only tropical forest in the U.S. National Forest System. The trajectory of EYNF policy and practice over time and its capacity for learning, flexibility, and adaptiveness to change and surprise are analyzed through an historical institutionalism approach. EYNF policies and practices have shifted from an early custodial approach that focused mostly on protection and prevention to a top-down, technical approach that eventually gave way to an ecosystem approach that has slowly incorporated more flexible, adaptive, and active learning elements. These shifts in EYNF management mostly have been reactive and incremental, with some rarer, rapid changes primarily in response to significant changes in national-level policies, but also to local level conditions and changes in them. Looking to the future, it seems the EYNF may be better positioned than ever before to address increasing uncertainty and surprise at multiple scales. However, it must be able

  9. A large-scale forest fragmentation experiment: the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewers, Robert M.; Didham, Raphael K.; Fahrig, Lenore; Ferraz, Gonçalo; Hector, Andy; Holt, Robert D.; Kapos, Valerie; Reynolds, Glen; Sinun, Waidi; Snaddon, Jake L.; Turner, Edgar C.

    2011-01-01

    Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique opportunity to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we review the design of existing, large-scale forest fragmentation experiments. Based on this review, we develop a design for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment to be located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). The SAFE Project represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (i) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (ii) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (iii) has greater replication than existing experiments; (iv) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (v) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land-use intensity than do existing projects. The SAFE Project represents an opportunity for ecologists across disciplines to participate in a large initiative designed to generate a broad understanding of the ecological impacts of tropical forest modification. PMID:22006969

  10. A large-scale forest fragmentation experiment: the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewers, Robert M; Didham, Raphael K; Fahrig, Lenore; Ferraz, Gonçalo; Hector, Andy; Holt, Robert D; Kapos, Valerie; Reynolds, Glen; Sinun, Waidi; Snaddon, Jake L; Turner, Edgar C

    2011-11-27

    Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique opportunity to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we review the design of existing, large-scale forest fragmentation experiments. Based on this review, we develop a design for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment to be located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). The SAFE Project represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (i) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (ii) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (iii) has greater replication than existing experiments; (iv) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (v) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land-use intensity than do existing projects. The SAFE Project represents an opportunity for ecologists across disciplines to participate in a large initiative designed to generate a broad understanding of the ecological impacts of tropical forest modification.

  11. The interaction of land-use legacies and hurricane disturbance in subtropical wet forest: twenty-one years of change

    OpenAIRE

    Hogan, James Aaron; Zimmerman, Jess K.; Thompson, Jill; Nytch, Christopher J.; Uriarte, Maria

    2016-01-01

    Disturbance shapes plant communities over a wide variety of spatial and temporal scales. How natural and anthropogenic disturbance interact to shape ecological communities is highly variable and begs a greater understanding. We used five censuses spanning the years 1990–2011 from the 16-ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP) in northeast Puerto Rico to investigate the interplay of human land-use legacies dating to the early 20th century and two recent hurricanes (Hugo, 1989 and Georges, 1998...

  12. Health and Reproductive Assessment of Selected Puerto Rican Parrots ( Amazona vittata ) in Captivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clubb, Susan; Velez, Jafet; Garner, Michael M; Zaias, Julia; Cray, Carolyn

    2015-12-01

    The Puerto Rican parrot ( Amazona vittata ) has become an iconic and high-profile conservation species. The cornerstone of the recovery plan for this critically endangered species is an active captive breeding program, management of the wild population, and a long-term reintroduction program. In 2002, 40 adult Puerto Rican parrots that had not produced viable offspring were selected for reproductive assessment at 2 aviary populations in Puerto Rico (Iguaca and Río Abajo), which are the only sources of parrots for release. The goal was to enhance reproductive potential and produce productive pairings in an attempt to augment the population growth and provide ample individuals for reintroduction. Seven Hispanolian Amazon parrots ( Amazona ventralis ) that were used as surrogate parents for the Puerto Rican parrots were also included in the study. This assessment included physical examination, endoscopic evaluation, hematologic and plasma biochemical profiles, viral screening, and hormonal assays. Results of general physical examination and hematologic and plasma biochemical testing revealed overall good health and condition of this subset of the population of Puerto Rican parrots; no major infectious diseases were found. Endoscopic examination also revealed overall good health and condition, especially of females. The apparent low fertility of male birds warrants further investigation. The findings helped to define causes of reproductive failure in the selected pairs and individual birds. New pairings resulting from the assessment helped to augment reproduction of this critically endangered species.

  13. Clinical determinants of clopidogrel responsiveness in a heterogeneous cohort of Puerto Rican Hispanics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez-Suarez, Dagmar F; Scott, Stuart A; Tomey, Matthew I; Melin, Kyle; Lopez-Candales, Angel; Buckley, Charlotte E; Duconge, Jorge

    2017-09-01

    Clopidogrel is by far the most prescribed platelet adenosine diphosphate (ADP) antagonist in Puerto Rico despite the advent of newer agents (prasugrel and ticagrelor). Given the paucity of data on clopidogrel responsiveness in Hispanics, we sought to determine the association between clinical characteristics and platelet reactivity in Puerto Rican patients on clopidogrel therapy. A total of 100 Puerto Rican patients on clopidogrel therapy were enrolled and allocated into two groups: Group I, without high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HTPR); and Group II, with HTPR. Platelet function was measured ex vivo using the VerifyNow® P2Y12 assay. The cohort was comprised of Hispanic patients with coronary artery disease (57%), peripheral artery disease (32%), carotid artery stenosis (7%), cerebral artery aneurysm (2%), and stroke (2%). Mean platelet reactivity was 200 ± 61 P2Y12 reaction units (PRUs) (range: 8-324), and 35% of patients had HTPR (PRUs ⩾ 230). Multivariable logistic regression analysis determined that diabetes mellitus (DM) [odds ratio (OR) = 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-8.96], use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) (OR = 3.60; 95% CI: 1.09-11.82), and calcium channel blockers (CCBs) (OR = 3.10; 95% CI: 1.09-8.83) were independent predictors of HTPR ( p Puerto Rican Hispanic patients on clopidogrel, 35% had HTPR. Furthermore, DM, PPIs and CCBs predicted HTPR. Clinical outcome data are needed to identify appropriate PRU thresholds for risk prediction in the Puerto Rican population.

  14. What Latino Puerto Ricans and non-Latinos say when they talk about Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlawish, Jason; Barg, Frances K; Augsburger, Deborah; Beaver, James; Ferguson, Allison; Nunez, Jessica

    2011-03-01

    To discover whether Latino Puerto Rican and non-Latino communities differ in the words they use to talk about Alzheimer's disease (AD). Four groups of 30 persons per group defined by self-identified ethnicity and caregiver status: Latino Puerto Ricans and non-Latino Whites, who were either caregivers or non-caregivers completed free-listing exercises to identify the words they use when they describe AD causes, symptoms, caregiving, and research risks and benefits. Both Latino Puerto Ricans and non-Latino Whites recognize AD as a disease of memory loss and other cognitive problems. Although both groups used the term "sadness" to describe AD, non-Latino Whites did not feature emotional, behavioral, or psychological problems as among the causes of AD. Although all the groups' descriptions of a person who lives with and cares for a person with AD shared the word "loving," Latino Puerto Ricans focused on a good spouse who exercises intelligence, patience, and attention on behalf of the person with AD and did not use the term "caregiver." In contrast, non-Latino Whites typically used the term "caregiver." Both groups' lists shared words that describe research as presenting harms to an AD patient and requiring a commitment of time. Latino Puerto Ricans' lists suggested an understanding of research benefits akin to clinical care. Notable differences exist in how Latino Puerto Ricans and non-Latino Whites talk about AD and AD research. Clinicians, clinical investigators, and patient educators need to consider these differences when they conduct clinical care and research and design outreach and educational materials. Copyright © 2011 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Regeneration of five commercially-valuable tree species after experimental logging in an Amazonian forest

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lima Albertina Pimentel

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the regeneration variation of five commercially valuable tree species in relation to different intensities of felling in fourteen 4-ha plots in an area under experimental forest management. This experiment was carried out in a typical Amazonian tropical forest sample on "terra-firme," in Manaus (AM. Plots were logged 7 and 8 years (1987 and 1988, or 3 years (1993 before the study. All trees with height greater than 2 m, and diameter at breast height (DBH smaller than 10 cm were measured. Only Aniba hostmanniana, Ocotea aciphylla, Licaria pachycarpa, Eschweilera coriacea and Goupia glabra were sufficiently common for individual analyses. These species have high timber values in the local market. Eight years after logging, the species responded differently to logging intensities. The numbers of individuals of Goupia glabra and Aniba hostmanniana were positively related to the intensity of logging, while Ocotea aciphylla, Licaria pachycarpa, and Eschweilera coriacea showed no statistically significant response. In the most recently (1993 logged areas, Goupia glabra and Aniba hostmanniana had higher numbers of individuals than the control plots.

  16. 75 FR 68393 - Puerto Rico Disaster # PR-00011

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-05

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12366 and 12367] Puerto Rico Disaster PR-00011 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster [[Page 68394

  17. Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats of Southwest Puerto Rico

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera...

  18. Increasing prevalence of diagnosed diabetes--United States and Puerto Rico, 1995-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-16

    In 2010, an estimated 18.8 million persons in the United States had diagnosed diabetes mellitus and another 7.0 million had undiagnosed diabetes. Since 1990, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in the United States has risen sharply among all age groups, both sexes, and all racial/ethnic groups for which data are available. To learn whether the increase has been greater in some regions of the United States than in others, data on self-reported diabetes in adults collected during 1995-2010 by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were analyzed. The analysis showed that the age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased during the interval in every state, the District of Columbia (DC), and Puerto Rico. In 1995, age-adjusted prevalence was ≥6% in only three states, DC, and Puerto Rico, but by 2010 it was ≥6% in every state, DC, and Puerto Rico, and ≥10.0% in six states and Puerto Rico. Strategies to prevent diabetes and its preventable risk factors are needed, especially for those at highest risk for diabetes, to slow the rise in diabetes prevalence across the United States. Continued surveillance of diabetes prevalence and incidence, its risk factors, and prevention efforts is important to measure progress of prevention efforts.

  19. Bankruptcy and loans in Puerto Rico:an exploratory overview of their relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Álvarez

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Puerto Rico has been going through a period of economic downturn since 2006, beginning a little before the global economic recession. This paper examines the behavior of loans granted by the commercial banking sector and their relationship with the number of business bankruptcies filed in Puerto Rico between 1999 and 2011. Findings draw attention to the fact that from 2006, there has been a steady decline in the number of personal, commercial and mortgage loans approved by the commercial banking sector, as well as in their value. An increase in the filing of bankruptcy is also observed. The number of loans approved by banks in Puerto Rico show a strong correlation with the economic activity index (EAI and other economic indicators that help to explain the island’s employment situation (total employment, labor force participation rate and unemployment rate.

  20. Association between BDNF-rs6265 and obesity in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    The objective of this study is to examine a functional variant (rs6265) in the BDNF gene interacting with dietary intake modulate obesity traits in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study population. BDNF rs6265 was genotyped in 1147 Puerto Ricans (aged 45-75 years), and examined for association with o...

  1. New distribution record of Cybocephalus kathrynae (Coleoptera, Cybocephalidae on Mona Island, Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean Carlos Curbelo-Rodríguez

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available New distribution record of Cybocephalus Kathrynae (Coleoptera, Cybocephalidae on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. A new record of Cybocephalus kathrynae T.R. Smith (Cybocephalidae is reported for Puerto Rico. Adults were collected from the flowers of Mammillaria nivosa (Cactaceae on Mona Island Reserve. Prior to this study, this beetle species was only reported for Monroe and Miami-Dade Counties, Florida, USA.

  2. Puerto Nuevo and the Origins of the Stylistic-Religious Paracas Tradition

    OpenAIRE

    García, Rubén

    2012-01-01

    Puerto Nuevo was previously defined by García y Pinilla as a phase/style where there is an amalgam of Chavín and Cupisnique cultural elements with those of the south coast at the end of the Initial Period and the beginning of the Early Horizon. This paper presents new evidences and comparative stylistic analyses of contemporary societies that propose that it was during Puerto Nuevo times that the Paracas stylistic and religious tradition initiated, and therefore place it chronologically at th...

  3. Invertebrates of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, western Cascades, Oregon II. an annotated checklist of caddisflies (Trichoptera)

    Science.gov (United States)

    N.H. Anderson; G.M. Cooper; D.G Denning

    1982-01-01

    At least 99 species, representing 14 families of Trichoptera, are recorded from the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, near Blue River, Oregon. The collecting sites include a wide diversity of environmental conditions in a 6000-hectare watershed of the western Cascade Range (from 400 to 1 630 meters in altitude and from 1st- to 7th-order streams).

  4. Invertebrates of The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Western Cascade Mountains, Oregon: IV. The Oribatid Mites (Acari: Cryptostigmata).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrew Moldenke; Becky. Fichter

    1988-01-01

    A fully illustrated key is presented for identifying genera of oribatid mites known from or suspected of occurring in the Pacific Northwest. The manual includes an introduction detailing sampling methodology; an illustrated glossary of all terminology used; two color plates of all taxa from the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest; a diagrammatic key to the 16 major...

  5. Childhood Asthma Prevalence among Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans: Implications for Behavioral Intervention Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurtado, A. Magdalena

    1995-01-01

    Data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1982-84, were used to examine lifetime prevalence (LTP) of childhood asthma among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans. LTP was related to Puerto Rican ethnicity, birth outside U.S. mainland, low weight for age, male gender, poverty, urban residence, and single parenthood. Implications…

  6. The Work of US Public Health Service Officers in Puerto Rico, 1898-1919.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigau-Pérez, Jose G

    2017-09-01

    The history of the US Public Health Service (PHS) is usually presented in terms of diseases or discoveries; this article examines twenty years' activity in one location. When the United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, the Marine Hospital Service (now PHS) took responsibility for foreign quarantine, inspection of immigrants, and medical care for merchant seamen. Its officers evaluated the sanitary conditions of port cities, helped reorganize local disease surveillance and control, and investigated endemic diseases (e.g., hookworm-related anemia) and epidemics (e.g., bubonic plague). After World War I and pandemic influenza, and the greater self-government allowed Puerto Rico by Congress in 1917, PHS officers withdrew from routine local sanitary actions. A narrow geographic focus (Puerto Rico), to examine PHS activity over time (1898 to 1919) provides a richer picture of the agency's impact, and reveals how the sum of disease control activities affected the development of an area's health status and institutions. The duties and, importantly, the personal initiatives of PHS officers in Puerto Rico, such as WW King, produced lasting impact on scientific institutions and administrative, professional, and health care practices.

  7. Self-reported parenting practices in Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers of young children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calzada, Esther J; Eyberg, Sheila M

    2002-09-01

    Explored self-reported parenting in a Hispanic sample of mothers living in the mainland United States using a cultural framework. Participants were 130 immigrant or first-generation Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers with a child between the ages of 2 and 6 years. Mothers completed questionnaires related to their parenting behavior and also filled out a detailed demographic form and a measure of acculturation. Results suggested that both Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers engage in high levels of praise and physical affection and low levels of harsh, inconsistent, and punitive parenting behaviors. Dominican and Puerto Rican parenting was similar on measures of authoritarian and permissive parenting, but differences emerged on a measure of authoritative parenting and when parenting was considered at the more detailed level of individual behaviors. Parenting was related to several demographic characteristics, including father's education level and child age; more specifically, higher paternal education and younger age of the child were related to higher levels of authoritative parenting by mothers. Parenting and acculturation were generally not related. Discussion focused on a culturally sensitive interpretation of normative parenting among Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers.

  8. Sex Differences and Depression in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canino, Glorisa J.; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Examined sex differences in rates of depressive disorders and depressive symptomatology, as measured by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, for an island-wide probability sample of Puerto Rico. Found depression significantly more prevalent among women than men. Discusses risk factors from a sex-role and cultural perspective. (Author/KS)

  9. Areas naturales protegidas de Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    William A. Gould; Maya Quinones; Mariano Solórzano; Waldemar Alcobas; Caryl Alarcon

    2011-01-01

    En este mapa mostramos las areas naturales protegidas designadas para la conservacion de los recursos naturales en Puerto Rico y regiones reguladas por ley con el potencial de mejorar la conservacion de los mismos. La designacion de areas protegidas es un proceso dinamico debido a que es el resultado de la constante evolucion de valores en los diferentes sectores de la...

  10. 19 CFR 7.1 - Puerto Rico; spirits and wines withdrawn from warehouse for shipment to; duty on foreign-grown...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Puerto Rico; spirits and wines withdrawn from... INSULAR POSSESSIONS AND GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION § 7.1 Puerto Rico; spirits and wines withdrawn from... bonded manufacturing warehouse for shipment in bond to Puerto Rico pursuant to section 311, Tariff Act of...

  11. Puerto Rico Seismic Network Operations During and After the Hurricane Maria: Response, Continuity of Operations, and Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanacore, E. A.; Baez-Sanchez, G.; Huerfano, V.; Lopez, A. M.; Lugo, J.

    2017-12-01

    The Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) is an integral part of earthquake and tsunami monitoring in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The PRSN conducts scientific research as part of the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, conducts the earthquake monitoring for the region, runs extensive earthquake and tsunami education and outreach programs, and acts as a Tsunami Warning Focal Point Alternate for Puerto Rico. During and in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the PRSN duties and responsibilities evolved from a seismic network to a major information and communications center for the western side of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria effectively destroyed most communications on island, critically between the eastern side of the island where Puerto Rico's Emergency Management's (PREMA) main office and the National Weather Service (NWS) is based and the western side of the island. Additionally, many local emergency management agencies on the western side of the island lost a satellite based emergency management information system called EMWIN which provides critical tsunami and weather information. PRSN's EMWIN system remained functional and consequently via this system and radio communications PRSN became the only information source for NWS warnings and bulletins, tsunami alerts, and earthquake information for western Puerto Rico. Additionally, given the functional radio and geographic location of the PRSN, the network became a critical communications relay for local emergency management. Here we will present the PRSN response in relation to Hurricane Maria including the activation of the PRSN devolution plan, adoption of duties, experiences and lessons learned for continuity of operations and adoption of responsibilities during future catastrophic events.

  12. Tropical forest soil microbial communities couple iron and carbon biogeochemistry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dubinsky, E.A.; Silver, W.L.; Firestone, M.K.

    2009-10-15

    We report that iron-reducing bacteria are primary mediators of anaerobic carbon oxidation in upland tropical soils spanning a rainfall gradient (3500 - 5000 mm yr-1) in northeast Puerto Rico. The abundant rainfall and high net primary productivity of these tropical forests provide optimal soil habitat for iron-reducing and iron-oxidizing bacteria. Spatially and temporally dynamic redox conditions make iron-transforming microbial communities central to the belowground carbon cycle in these wet tropical forests. The exceedingly high abundance of iron-reducing bacteria (up to 1.2 x 10{sup 9} cells per gram soil) indicated that they possess extensive metabolic capacity to catalyze the reduction of iron minerals. In soils from the higher rainfall sites, measured rates of ferric iron reduction could account for up to 44 % of organic carbon oxidation. Iron reducers appeared to compete with methanogens when labile carbon availability was limited. We found large numbers of bacteria that oxidize reduced iron at sites with high rates of iron reduction and large numbers of iron-reducers. the coexistence of large populations of ironreducing and iron-oxidizing bacteria is evidence for rapid iron cycling between its reduced and oxidized states, and suggests that mutualistic interactions among these bacteria ultimately fuel organic carbon oxidation and inhibit CH4 production in these upland tropical forests.

  13. A twin study of early-childhood asthma in Puerto Ricans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Supinda Bunyavanich

    Full Text Available The relative contributions of genetics and environment to asthma in Hispanics or to asthma in children younger than 3 years are not well understood.To examine the relative contributions of genetics and environment to early-childhood asthma by performing a longitudinal twin study of asthma in Puerto Rican children ≤ 3 years old.678 twin infants from the Puerto Rico Neo-Natal Twin Registry were assessed for asthma at age 1 year, with follow-up data obtained for 624 twins at age 3 years. Zygosity was determined by DNA microsatellite profiling. Structural equation modeling was performed for three phenotypes at ages 1 and 3 years: physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use in the past year, and ≥ 1 hospitalization for asthma in the past year. Models were additionally adjusted for early-life environmental tobacco smoke exposure, sex, and age.The prevalences of physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use, and hospitalization for asthma were 11.6%, 10.8%, 4.9% at age 1 year, and 34.1%, 40.1%, and 8.5% at 3 years, respectively. Shared environmental effects contributed to the majority of variance in susceptibility to physician-diagnosed asthma and asthma medication use in the first year of life (84%-86%, while genetic effects drove variance in all phenotypes (45%-65% at age 3 years. Early-life environmental tobacco smoke, sex, and age contributed to variance in susceptibility.Our longitudinal study in Puerto Rican twins demonstrates a changing contribution of shared environmental effects to liability for physician-diagnosed asthma and asthma medication use between ages 1 and 3 years. Early-life environmental tobacco smoke reduction could markedly reduce asthma morbidity in young Puerto Rican children.

  14. Effect of land cover, stream discharge, and precipitation on water quality in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, J. S.; Uriarte, M.

    2017-12-01

    In 2015, Puerto Rico experienced one of the worst droughts in its history, causing widespread water rationing and sparking concerns for future resources. The drought represents precipitation extremes that provide valuable insight into the effects of land cover (LC), on modulating discharge and water quality indices at varying spatial scales. We used data collected from 38 water quality and 55 precipitation monitoring stations in Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2016, paired with a 2010 land cover map to (1) determine whether temporal variability in discharge, precipitation, or antecedent precipitation was a better predictor of water quality, (2) find the spatial scale where LC has the greatest impact on water quality, and (3) quantify impacts of LC on water quality indices, including dissolved oxygen (mg/L), total nitrogen (mg/L), phosphorous (mg/L), turbidity (NTRU), fecal coliforms (colony units/100mL) and instantaneous discharge (ft3/s). The resulting linear mixed effects models account for between 36-68% of the variance in water quality. Preliminary results indicate that phosphorous and nitrogen were best predicted from instantaneous stream discharge, the log of discharge was the better predictor for turbidity and fecal coliforms, and summed 2 and 14-day antecedent precipitation indices were better predictors for dissolved oxygen and discharge, respectively. Increased urban and pasture area reliably decreased water quality in relation to forest cover, while agriculture and wetlands had little or mixed effects. Turbidity and nitrogen responded to a watershed level LC, while phosphorous, fecal coliforms, and discharge responded to LC in 60 m riparian buffers at the watershed scale. Our results indicate that LC modulates changing precipitation regimes and the ensuing impacts on water quality at a range of spatial scales.

  15. Lessons Learned from the Puerto Rico Battery Energy Storage System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    BOYES, JOHN D.; DE ANA, MINDI FARBER; TORRES, WENCESLANO

    1999-09-01

    The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) installed a distributed battery energy storage system in 1994 at a substation near San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was patterned after two other large energy storage systems operated by electric utilities in California and Germany. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Storage Systems Program at Sandia National Laboratories has followed the progress of all stages of the project since its inception. It directly supported the critical battery room cooling system design by conducting laboratory thermal testing of a scale model of the battery under simulated operating conditions. The Puerto Rico facility is at present the largest operating battery storage system in the world and is successfully providing frequency control, voltage regulation, and spinning reserve to the Caribbean island. The system further proved its usefulness to the PREPA network in the fall of 1998 in the aftermath of Hurricane Georges. The owner-operator, PREPA, and the architect/engineer, vendors, and contractors learned many valuable lessons during all phases of project development and operation. In documenting these lessons, this report will help PREPA and other utilities in planning to build large energy storage systems.

  16. Association between sleep duration, insomnia symptoms and bone mineral density in older Puerto Rican adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Objective: To examine the association between sleep patterns (sleep duration and insomnia symptoms) and total and regional bone mineral density (BMD) among older Boston Puerto Rican adults. Materials/Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 750 Puerto Rican adults, aged 47–79 y livi...

  17. Puerto Rico School Principals: Leadership Perceptions and Practices in Schools in Need of Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez, Jacqueline Bocachica

    2016-01-01

    The phenomenon of school leadership in Puerto Rico is explored in this study, which was an examination of the perceptions and practices of 12 elementary school principals. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory that functions within a unique political structure yet is held to the same standards as all U.S. districts. The primary method of data collection…

  18. Water quality and mass transport in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter E in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stallard, Robert F.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.

    2012-01-01

    Water quality of four small watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico has been monitored since 1991 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets program. These watersheds represent a montane, humid-tropical environment and differ in geology and land cover. Two watersheds are located on granitic rocks, and two are located on volcaniclastic rock. For each bedrock type, one watershed is covered with mature rainforest in the Luquillo Mountains, and the other watershed is undergoing reforestation after being affected by agricultural practices typical of eastern Puerto Rico. A subwatershed of the Icacos watershed, the Guabá, was also monitored to examine scaling effects. The water quality of the rivers draining forest, in the Icacos and Guabá (granitic watersheds) and Mameyes (a volcaniclastic watershed), show little contamination by human activities. The water is well oxygenated and has a nearly neutral pH, and nutrient concentrations are low. Concentrations of nutrients in the disturbed watersheds, the Cayaguás (granitic rock) and Canóvanas (volcaniclastic rock), are greater than in the forested watersheds, indicating some inputs from human activities. High in-stream productivity in the Canóvanas watershed leads to occasional oxygen and calcite supersaturation and carbon dioxide undersaturation. Suspended sediment concentrations in all watersheds are low, except during major storms. Most dissolved constituents derived from bedrock weathering or atmospheric deposition (including sodium, magnesium, calcium, silica, alkalinity, and chloride) decrease in concentration with increasing runoff, reflecting dilution from increased proportions of overland or near-surface flow. Strongly bioactive constituents (dissolved organic carbon, potassium, nitrate, ammonium ion, and phosphate) commonly display increasing concentration with increasing runoff, regardless of their ultimate origin (bedrock or atmosphere). The concentrations of many of the

  19. Canyons off northwest Puerto Rico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gardner, W.D.; Glover, L.K.; Hollister, C.D.

    1980-01-01

    The Nuclear-Research Submarine NR-1 was used to study morphoplogy, sediment, and sediment-water interactions off the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. New detailed bathymetry from the surface-support ship, USS Portland, shows several submarine canyons in the area, some of them unreported previously. The north coast canyons, Arecibo, Tiberones and Quebradillas, are primarily erosional features although no recent turbidity-current evidence is seen. The canyons are presently filling with river-transported sediments. (orig./ME)

  20. Cartagena : puerto comercial (1533-1800

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolás del Castillo Mathieu

    1979-02-01

    Full Text Available Dos flotas zarpaban cada año de Sevilla (y en el siglo XVIII de  Cádiz. Se la primera, con destino a Veracruz, en el Virreinato de Nueva España, se separaban algunos pocos barcos para el comercio de las Antillas Mayores y se desgranaban otros dos hacia los puertos de Caballos, Trujillo y Bodegas del Golfo Dulce con el propósito de surtir a Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador.

  1. The Puerto Rican Community and Its Children on the Mainland: A Source Book for Teachers, Social Workers and Other Professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordasco, Francesco; Bucchioni, Eugene

    This collection of readings is organized in four parts. Part I, "Aspects of Puerto Rican culture," includes the following articles: "Explicit and implicit culture in Puerto Rico: a case study in educational anthropology," T. Brameld; "Respeto, relajo, and interpersonal relations in Puerto Rico," A. Lauria;…

  2. Dryness crisis of the late V BP milenium in the west coast of Port of Mazarron (Murcia, Spain); Crisis de aridez a finales del V milenio BP en el litoral occidental del puerto de Mazarron (Murcia, Espana)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Navarro Hervas, F.; Rodriguez Estrella, T.; Carrion Garcia, J. S.; Ros Sala, M. M.; Fernandez Jimenez, S.; Garcia Martinez, M. S.; Mancheno Jimenez, M. A.; Alvarez Rogel, Y.

    2009-07-01

    Here we describe a formerly unrecognized dry spell dated at between c. 4330 and 3950 radiocarbon years BP, and located in the Puerto de Mazarron (Murcia, southeastern Spain). The palaeoclimatical inference is provided by halite levels within a long sequence of a multiple core study carried in a palaeo-lagoon. The lithological inference is corroborated by palynological records involving a forest depletion. The event is also linked to a population decline in the study region. (Author) 6 refs.

  3. The Kane Experimental Forest carbon inventory: Carbon reporting with FVS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coeli Hoover

    2008-01-01

    As the number of state and regional climate change agreements grows, so does the need to assess the carbon implications of planned forest management actions. At the operational level, producing detailed stock estimates for the primary carbon pools becomes time-consuming and cumbersome. Carbon reporting functionality has been fully integrated within the Forest...

  4. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: M_MAMMAL (Marine Mammal Polygons)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  5. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: SOCECON (Socioeconomic Lines and Points)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and Reach Sensitivity Index (RSI) data for Puerto Rico. ESI data characterize estuarine...

  6. A 4-year record of sitka spruce and western hemlock seed fall on the Cascade Head Experimental Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert H. Ruth; Carl M. Berntsen

    1955-01-01

    Four years' measurement of seed fall in the spruce-hemlock type on the Cascade Head Experimental Forest indicates that an ample supply of seed is distributed over clear-cut areas under staggered-setting cutting. The largest tract sampled was 81 acres; in spite of a seed crop failure in 1950, it received an average of 243,000 viable spruce and hemlock seeds per...

  7. Genetic structure of the gentle Africanized honey bee population (gAHB) in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galindo-Cardona, Alberto; Acevedo-Gonzalez, Jenny P; Rivera-Marchand, Bert; Giray, Tugrul

    2013-08-06

    The Africanized honey bee is one of the most spectacular invasions in the Americas. African bees escaped from apiaries in Brazil in 1956, spread over Americas and by 1994 they were reported in Puerto Rico. In contrast to other places, the oceanic island conditions in Puerto Rico may mean a single introduction and different dynamics of the resident European and new-coming Africanized bees.To examine the genetic variation of honey bee feral populations and colonies from different locations in Puerto Rico, we used eight known polymorphic microsatellite loci. In Puerto Rico, gAHB population does not show any genetic structure (Fst = 0.0783), and is best described as one honey bee population, product of hybridization of AHB and EHB. The genetic variability in this Africanized population was similar to that reported in studies from Texas. We observed that European private allele frequencies are high in all but one locus. This contrasts with mainland Africanized populations, where European allele frequencies are diminished. Two loci with European private alleles, one on Linkage Group 7, known to carry two known defensiveness Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs), and the other on Linkage Group 1, known to carry three functionally studied genes and 11 candidate genes associated with Varroa resistance mechanisms were respectively, significantly greater or lower in European allele frequency than the other loci with European private alleles. Genetic structure of Puerto Rico gAHB differs from mainland AHB populations, probably representing evolutionary processes on the island.

  8. Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori in Hispanics living in Puerto Rico: A population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Pons, María; Soto-Salgado, Marievelisse; Sevilla, Javier; Márquez-Lespier, Juan M; Morgan, Douglas; Pérez, Cynthia M; Cruz-Correa, Marcia

    2018-02-01

    Helicobacter pylori is an important etiologic factor for peptic ulcers and gastric cancer, one of the top ten leading causes of cancer death in Puerto Rico. However, the prevalence of H. pylori infections in this population was previously unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of H. pylori and its associated risk factors in Puerto Rico. A cross-sectional study was designed using an existing population-based biorepository. Seropositivity was determined using the Premier ™ H. pylori immunoassay. Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence was estimated with 95% confidence using marginal standardization following logistic regression. To assess the risk factors associated with H. pylori seropositivity, a multivariable log-binomial model was fitted to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A total of 528 population-based serum samples were analyzed. The mean age of the study population was 41 ± 12 years, of whom 55.3% were females. The overall seroprevalence of H. pylori was 33.0% (95% CI = 28.3%-38.1%). Increasing age and having Puerto Rico. The H. pylori seroprevalence observed in Puerto Rico is similar to the seroprevalence reported in the overall population of the United States. The association between H. pylori seroprevalence and the risk factors analyzed offers insight into the epidemiology of gastric cancer in Puerto Rico and warrants further investigation. © 2017 The Authors. Helicobacter Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. English Proficiency and Admission and Graduation of Post-Secondary Students at a Puerto Rican University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alea, Jamie

    2009-01-01

    This dissertation has examined English proficiency as a mediating social factor within the occupational structure of Puerto Rico. It included an analysis of the educational records of 641 students majoring in industrial engineering, nursing, education and finance of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez from 1998-2000. The investigation…

  10. Cultural Diversity of Interpersonal Communication Competence: A Study of Puerto Rico Managers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bobby C. Vaught

    1998-08-01

    Full Text Available Most research and theories of interpersonal communication reflect mainstream U.S. culture. In an attempt to better understand the communication practices of Spanish-speaking cultures, an exploratory study of interpersonal communication was conducted involving Puerto Rican managers. The Index of Interpersonal Communication Competence (IICC was translated into Spanish and administered in two large international pharmaceutical companies in Puerto Rico. The results of the study are discussed in terms of implications for communication theory and applied communication research.

  11. Attitudes toward business creation: A comparative study between Catalonia and Puerto Rico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marinés Aponte

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available In this research the attitudes towards entrepreneurship of two samples of university students from Catalonia and Puerto Rico are analysed. Perceptions of desirability, feasibility and the intention to start a new firm are studied and compared. Institutional Economic Theory is used as a theoretical framework of the research due to its adequacy to the analysis of the conditioning factors to entrepreneurship. Not relevant differences in the attitudes to entrepreneurship between Catalonia and Puerto Rico are found in the research.

  12. Fajardo, Puerto Rico Tsunami Forecast Grids for MOST Model

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Fajardo, Puerto Rico Forecast Model Grids provides bathymetric data strictly for tsunami inundation modeling with the Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) model....

  13. Ponce, Puerto Rico Tsunami Forecast Grids for MOST Model

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Ponce, Puerto Rico Forecast Model Grids provides bathymetric data strictly for tsunami inundation modeling with the Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) model....

  14. National Status and Trends: Guanica, Puerto Rico Contaminants Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This project assesses chemical contaminant status in sediment and coral tissues (Porites astroides) collected in and around Guanica Bay, Puerto Rico in 2009....

  15. Arecibo, Puerto Rico Tsunami Forecast Grids for MOST Model

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Arecibo, Puerto Rico Forecast Model Grids provides bathymetric data strictly for tsunami inundation modeling with the Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) model....

  16. Aves municipales oficiales de Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlos M. Domínguez Cristóbal

    2009-01-01

    Las aves constituyen uno de los recursos de muy poco uso como símbolo oficial representativo de los municipios en Puerto Rico. Es muy probable que la decisión que màs pueda influenciar en esa selección esté relacionada con la movilidad de las aves ya que éstas no se limitan a una municipalidad en específico...

  17. Forest management practices and silviculture. Chapter 12.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donald A. Perala; Elon S. Verry

    2011-01-01

    This chapter is an overview of forest management and silviculture practices, and lessons learned, on the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF). The forests there are a mosaic of natural regeneration and conifer plantations. Verry (1969) described forest-plant communities in detail for the study watersheds (Sl through S6) on the MEF. The remaining area is described in...

  18. Manatee mortality in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A.; Montoya-Ospina, R. A.; Jimenez-Marrero, N. M.; Rodriguez-Lopez, M.; Williams, E.H.; Bonde, R.K.

    2000-01-01

    The most pressing problem in the effective management of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Puerto Rico is mortality due to human activities. We assessed 90 cases of manatee strandings in Puerto Rico based on historical data and a coordinated carcass salvage effort from 1990 through 1995. We determined patterns of mortality, including type of event, condition of carcasses, spatial and temporal distribution, gender, size/age class, and the cause of death. The spatial distribution of stranding events was not uniform, with the north, northeast, and south coasts having the highest numbers. Six clusters representing the highest incidence included the areas of Fajardo and Ceiba, Bahia de Jobos, Toa Baja, Guayanilla, Cabo Rojo, and Rio Grande to Luquillo. The number of reported cases has increased at an average rate of 9.6%/yr since 1990. The seasonality of stranding events showed a bimodal pattern, from February through April and in August and September. Most identified causes of death were due to human interaction, especially captures and watercraft collisions. Natural causes usually involved dependent calves. From 1990 through 1995, most deaths were attributed to watercraft collisions. A reduction in anthropogenic mortality of this endangered species can be accomplished only through education and a proactive management and conservation plan that includes law enforcement, mortality assessment, scientific research, rescue and rehabilitation, and inter- and intraagency cooperation.

  19. A review of barriers to effective asthma management in Puerto Ricans: cultural, healthcare system and pharmacogenomic issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alicea-Alvarez, Norma; Swanson-Biearman, Brenda; Kelsen, Steven G

    2014-02-01

    Among the Hispanic community, Puerto Ricans have the highest prevalence of asthma and manifest the worst outcomes. The expected growth of the Hispanic population in the USA in the next several decades make elimination of disparate care in Puerto Rican asthmatics a matter of national importance. The purpose of this review of the literature (ROL) is to examine a variety of health system, genetic and cultural barriers in the Puerto Rican community which have created disparities in asthma care and outcomes among adult and pediatric Hispanic populations. In addition, this ROL describes several culturally sensitive, community-based educational interventions which can be used as a framework for future projects to improved asthma outcomes. Databases searched included Medline, PubMED, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Google Scholar and ERIC. Papers published in English from January 1990 to January 2012 were reviewed. Health system policies, insurer compensation patterns, clinician attitudes and cultural values/folk remedies in the Puerto Rican community represent barriers to effective asthma management, the use of controller medication and the implementation of educational interventions. In addition, genetic factors involving the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene, which impair the response to albuterol, appear to contribute to poorer outcomes in Puerto Rican asthmatics. In contrast, several comprehensive, community-based, culturally sensitive educational interventions such as Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project (CAACP), the Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health in the US Program and Healthy Hoops programs (REACH) have been described. We believe that culturally sensitive community-based asthma education programs can serve as models for programs targeted toward Puerto Ricans to help decrease asthma morbidity. Moreover, greater sensitivity to Puerto Rican mores and folk remedies on the part of healthcare providers may improve the patient-clinician rapport and

  20. Importance of vitamin D and vitamin D levels status in Puerto Ricans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez-Martínez, Edu B; Pérez, Cynthia M; Cruz, Sofia K; Khorsandi, Shayan; Chardón, Camile; Ferder, Leon

    2013-11-01

    There is growing and compelling evidence demonstrating the extra-skeletal role of vitamin D and the importance of maintaining adequate levels of this nutrient. Currently, there is very limited information available on the vitamin D status in children and adults in underserved groups, including Puerto Ricans. We assessed the vitamin D status of 4,090 Puerto Ricans living in six geographical regions in the island. Only 31.5% of the studied population had sufficient vitamin D levels (>30 ng/ml). The 18-39 year age group and the females showed inadequate (<30 ng/ml) levels of vitamin D (76.9% and 69.8%, respectively). Participants aged 60 or older showed the highest mean values of serum 25(OH)D (28.8 ng/ml) and the highest percentage (37.1%) of sufficient levels (>30 ng/ml). Future studies are certainly warranted to understand the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and influencing factors (including obesity) in Puerto Ricans.

  1. Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in a Clinic Population from Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Neisha M; Aguilar, Stephanie

    2016-07-01

    Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a preventable or treatable cause of blindness in the adult population. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Puerto Ricans is the highest among Hispanics. This study evaluated the prevalence of DR in a screening program of DM subjects in a clinic system in Puerto Rico. A retrospective cross-sectional health records study of DM patients referred by primary care physicians for dilated retinal evaluation to the Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Optometry Juana Diaz Eye Institute Clinic between 2001 and 2009 was performed. All subjects underwent a complete eye evaluation including fundus photography. Photographs were graded following the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study protocols. A total of 411 randomly selected health records of DM subjects older than 30 years were included. The estimated prevalence of DR among all subjects is 37.7%. DR was more common in males (47.2%) than females (33.7%). The age range with higher frequency of DR is among ages 60 to 69 (34.8%) and the lowest between ages 30 and 39 (3.9%). The average number of years since initial DM diagnosis was 12.48. Probability of developing DR increases with longer duration of DM (p Puerto Ricans. Mild stage retinopathy was most prevalent and there exists an increase in probability to develop DR with duration of DM. The prevalence of DR in total population may be different than the findings presented in this paper. Comprehensive studies are needed to understand and estimate the progression and impact of DR in this population.

  2. Prevalence and Genetic Profile of Duchene and Becker Muscular Dystrophy in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Edwardo; Conde, José G; Berrios, Rafael Arias; Pardo, Sherly; Gómez, Omar; Mas Rodríguez, Manuel F

    2016-05-27

    Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy (DMD and BMD, respectively), are common forms of inherited muscle disease. Information regarding the epidemiology of these conditions, including genotype, is still sparse. To establish the prevalence and genetic profile of DMD and BMD in Puerto Rico. We collected data from medical records in all Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) clinics in Puerto Rico in order to estimate the prevalence of DMD and BMD and to describe the genotypic profile of these patients. Patients selected for data analysis matched "definite", "probable" and "possible" case definitions as established by MD STARnet. A total of 141 patients matched the inclusion criteria, with 64.5% and 35.5% being categorized into DMD and BMD, respectively. DMD and BMD prevalence in Puerto Rico was estimated at 5.18 and 2.84 per 100,000 males, respectively. Deletion was the most common form of mutation (66.7%) in the dystrophin gene, with exons in segment 45 to 47 being the most frequently affected. This is the first report of the prevalence and genetic profile characteristics of DMD and BMD in Puerto Rico. Prevalence of DMD was similar to that reported worldwide, while prevalence of BMD was higher. Genetic profile was consistent with that reported in the literature.

  3. Association of Types of Life Events with Depressive Symptoms among Puerto Rican Youth.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graciela Jaschek

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to examine the association between four types of adverse life events (family environment, separation, social adversity, and death and the development of depressive symptoms among Puerto Rican youth. This was a secondary analysis using three waves (2000-2004 of interview data from the Boricua Youth Study of 10-13 year old Puerto Rican youth residing in New York and Puerto Rico with no depressive symptoms at baseline (n = 977. Depressive symptoms increased with an increase in social adversity, separation, death, and death events. Youth support from parents was a significant protective factor for all adverse events and parent coping was a protective factor in social adversity events. Relying on standard diagnostic tools is ideal to identify youth meeting the criteria for a diagnosis of depression but not useful to detect youth who present with subclinical levels of depression. Youth with sub-clinical levels of depression will not get treated and are at increased risk of developing depression later in life. Adverse life events are potentially relevant to use in conjunction with other screening tools to identify Puerto Rican youth who have subclinical depression and are at risk of developing depression in later adolescence.

  4. FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS IN PUERTO RICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randy Quiñones

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Una relación de amigo o amiga con privilegio (ACP tiene tres componentes; la presencia de una amistad, la actividad sexual y la ausencia de un compromiso establecido. El objetivo principal de esta investigación cuantitativa no experimental fue explorar como correlacionan distintos niveles de religiosidad y búsqueda de sensaciones en estudiantes puertorriqueños que reportan tener ACP. Se administraron tres cuestionarios en español a estudiantes de distintas universidades del área metropolita na de Puerto Rico. El 61.8% de la muestra reportó experiencias con ACP alguna vez en sus vidas y el 17.9% estaban en una relación de ACP al momento del estudio. De éstos, el 40% reportó tener más de un ACP. Consistente con las hipótesis planteadas, altos n iveles de búsqueda de sensaciones estuvo asociado a un mayor número de relaciones de ACP ( p< . 05. Los resultados ayudan a informarnos sobre las motivaciones y expectativas de estudiantes universitarios que tienen ACP.

  5. Past and projected future changes in snowpack and soil frost at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    John L. Campbell; Scott V. Ollinger; Gerald N. Flerchinger; Haley Wicklein; Katharine Hayhoe; Amey S. Bailey

    2010-01-01

    Long-term data from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire show that air temperature has increased by about 1 °C over the last half century. The warmer climate has caused significant declines in snow depth, snow water equivalent and snow cover duration. Paradoxically, it has been suggested that warmer air temperatures may result in colder soils...

  6. Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiong Gao

    Full Text Available Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000 and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws

  7. Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Qiong; Yu, Mei

    2014-01-01

    Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000) and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws/regulations in land

  8. 77 FR 70417 - Foreign-Trade Zone 7-Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Pepsi...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-84-2012] Foreign-Trade Zone 7--Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Pepsi Cola Puerto Rico Distributing, LLC... Company, grantee of FTZ 7, submitted a notification of proposed production activity on behalf of Pepsi...

  9. Nematode community shifts in response to experimental warming and canopy conditions are associated with plant community changes in the temperate-boreal forest ecotone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thakur, Madhav Prakash; Reich, Peter B; Fisichelli, Nicholas A; Stefanski, Artur; Cesarz, Simone; Dobies, Tomasz; Rich, Roy L; Hobbie, Sarah E; Eisenhauer, Nico

    2014-06-01

    Global climate warming is one of the key forces driving plant community shifts, such as range shifts of temperate species into boreal forests. As plant community shifts are slow to observe, ecotones, boundaries between two ecosystems, are target areas for providing early evidence of ecological responses to warming. The role of soil fauna is poorly explored in ecotones, although their positive and negative effects on plant species can influence plant community structure. We studied nematode communities in response to experimental warming (ambient, +1.7, +3.4 °C) in soils of closed and open canopy forest in the temperate-boreal ecotone of Minnesota, USA and calculated various established nematode indices. We estimated species-specific coverage of understory herbaceous and shrub plant species from the same experimental plots and tested if changes in the nematode community are associated with plant cover and composition. Individual nematode trophic groups did not differ among warming treatments, but the ratio between microbial-feeding and plant-feeding nematodes increased significantly and consistently with warming in both closed and open canopy areas and at both experimental field sites. The increase in this ratio was positively correlated with total cover of understory plant species, perhaps due to increased predation pressure on soil microorganisms causing higher nutrient availability for plants. Multivariate analyses revealed that temperature treatment, canopy conditions and nematode density consistently shaped understory plant communities across experimental sites. Our findings suggest that warming-induced changes in nematode community structure are associated with shifts in plant community composition and productivity in the temperate-boreal forest ecotones.

  10. The experiences of ataques de nervios: towards an anthropology of emotions in Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarnaccia, P J; Rivera, M; Franco, F; Neighbors, C

    1996-09-01

    Ataques de nervios are an idiom of distress used by Puerto Ricans and other Latinos to express dislocations in the social world of the family. This paper contributes to the growing study of the "anthropology of the emotions". Through detailed interviews with 121 people in Puerto Rico, 78 of whom had had an ataque de nervios, we are developing a thick description of both the prototypical models for ataques de nervios and the varied individual experiences of ataques. The interview used in this study is a version of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue specifically adapted for use in a community study of ataques de nervios in Puerto Rico. Responses to questions on the experience of ataque de nervios were analyzed using a team of reviewers who represented differing knowledge and experience with Puerto Rican culture and mental health practice. The experience of ataques de nervios involves a loss of control in several important domains of experience: emotional expressions, bodily sensations, action dimensions and alterations in consciousness. That loss of control is closely linked to important social contexts relating to major life problems and the experience of suffering.

  11. Hydrogeology of Puerto Rico and the outlying islands of Vieques, Culebra, and Mona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Gómez, Fernando; Rodríguez-Martínez, Jesús; Santiago, Marilyn

    2014-01-01

    The availability of hydrogeologic maps for Puerto Rico and the outlying islands of Vieques, Culebra, and Mona are important to hydrogeologists, groundwater specialists, and water resource managers and planners. These maps, in combination with the report, serve as a source of information to all users by providing basic hydrogeologic and hydrologic knowledge in a concise illustrated format. Puerto Rico and the outlying islands cover a total area of 8,927 square kilometers (km2). Of this total area, about 3,500 km2 are underlain by hydrogeologic units that are classified as intergranular or fissured. These hydrogeologic units form the principal aquifer systems throughout Puerto Rico and the outlying islands. In Puerto Rico, the most extensive and intensely developed aquifers are the North Coast Limestone aquifer system and the South Coastal Alluvial Plain aquifer system. Withdrawals from these two aquifer systems constitute nearly 70 percent of the total groundwater withdrawn in Puerto Rico. The spatial extent of the North Coast Limestone aquifer system is about 2,000 km2. Within this aquifer system, groundwater development is greatest in the 800-km2 area between the Río Grande de Arecibo and the Río de la Plata. This also is the area for which concern is the highest regarding the future use of groundwater as a primary source of water for domestic and industrial use. With an estimated withdrawal of 280,000 cubic meters per day (m3/d), groundwater constituted the principal source of water within this area providing 100 percent of the water for self-supplied industries and about 85 percent for public water supplies in 1985. By 2005, groundwater withdrawals decreased to 150,000 m3/d. The spatial extent of the South Coastal Alluvial Plain aquifer system is about 470 km2. The estimated consumptive groundwater withdrawal from the aquifer system was 190,000 m3/d in 1980 and 170,000 m3/d in 2005. About 60 percent and 40 percent of the groundwater withdrawal from the South

  12. Management impacts on forest floor and soil organic carbon in northern temperate forests of the US

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coeli M. Hoover

    2011-01-01

    The role of forests in the global carbon cycle has been the subject of a great deal of research recently, but the impact of management practices on forest soil dynamics at the stand level has received less attention. This study used six forest management experimental sites in five northern states of the US to investigate the effects of silvicultural treatments (light...

  13. Evolution of Rehabilitation Counseling in Puerto Rico: Organizational and Legislative Efforts Evolución de la consejería en rehabilitación en Puerto Rico: Esfuerzos organizacionales y proyectos legislativos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ángel A. Villafañe Santiago

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explain a the historical, organizational, and legislative efforts that have contributed to the development of the Rehabilitation Counseling profession, b how these efforts have contributed to the development of the professional identity of the rehabilitation counselors and c how these events have contributed to the development of programs and the provision of quality services to people with special needs in Puerto Rico. Through oral history and literature review, it is possible to recognize the importance of the establishment of the federal legislation that promoted the first program of services to people with special needs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Those legislative mandates have also promoted the development of the Rehabilitation Counseling profession in the 20th Century and the development of professional organizations that have been determinant for the professionalization. This paper illustrates how at the end of 1960, in Puerto Rico, the creation of the Rehabilitation Counselors Association (Asociación de Consejeros en Rehabilitación, ACER by its Spanish acronym was critical for the transformation of the profession and for the creation of the Puerto Rico’s Professional Society of Rehabilitation Counselors (Colegio Profesional de los Consejeros en Rehabilitación de Puerto Rico at the beginning of the 21st Century. The study refers to the subsequent legislative efforts and the approval of new mandates as the amendment to the Puerto Rican Law of Mental Health made to include the Rehabilitation Counseling professionals among the professionals authorized to provide such services to people with mental health conditions in the country. After this theoretical historical review, it is concluded that although more marketing is required in terms of promoting the profession, this innovative profession has kept up-to-date over time, and that is a guarantee of the professional commitment to continue

  14. An experimental test of the causes of forest growth decline with stand age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael G. Ryan; Dan Binkley; James H. Fownes; Christian Giardina; Randy S. Senock

    2004-01-01

    The decline in aboveground wood production after canopy closure in even-aged forest stands is a common pattern in forests, but clear evidence for the mechanism causing the decline is lacking. The problem is fundamental to forest biology, commercial forestry (the decline sets the rotation age), and to carbon storage in forests. We tested three hypotheses...

  15. Profiling of Alzheimer's disease patients in Puerto Rico: A comparison of two distinct socioeconomic areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camacho-Mercado, Clara L; Figueroa, Raúl; Acosta, Heriberto; Arnold, Steven E; Vega, Irving E

    2016-01-01

    The Latino/Hispanic community in the United States is at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than other ethnic groups. Specifically, Caribbean Hispanics showed a more severe Alzheimer's disease symptomatology than any other ethnic group. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the mortality rate associated with Alzheimer's disease in Puerto Rico is higher than that reported in the United States. Moreover, the mortality rate associated with Alzheimer's disease was higher among Puerto Rican living in Puerto Rico than those in the mainland United States. There is also a differential geographical distribution of mortality rate associated with Alzheimer's disease in Puerto Rico, which may be associated with differential socioeconomic status and/or access to healthcare. However, there is no information regarding the clinical profile of Alzheimer's disease patients in Puerto Rico. Here, we present the results of a retrospective study directed to profile Alzheimer's disease patients clustered into two groups based on areas previously determined with low (Metro Region) and high (Northwest-Central Region) mortality rate associated with Alzheimer's disease in Puerto Rico. Significant difference in the age-at-diagnosis and years of education was found among patients within the two studied regions. Despite these differences, both regions showed comparable levels of initial and last Mini Mental State Examination scores and rate of cognitive decline. Significant difference was also observed in the occurance of co-morbidities associated with Alzheimer's disease. The differential profile of Alzheimer's disease patients correlated with differences in socioeconomic status between these two regions, suggesting that covariant associated with social status may contribute to increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Further studies should be conducted to determine the role of socioeconomic factors and healthy living practices as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.

  16. Environmental Assessment for Authorizing the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to allow Public Access to the Boiling Nuclear Superheat (BONUS) Reactor Building, Rincon, Puerto Rico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to consent to a proposal by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to allow public access to the Boiling Nuclear Superheat (BONUS) reactor building located near Rincon, Puerto Rico for use as a museum. PREPA, the owner of the BONUS facility, has determined that the historical significance of this facility, as one of only two reactors of this design ever constructed in the world, warrants preservation in a museum, and that this museum would provide economic benefits to the local community through increased tourism. Therefore, PREPA is proposing development of the BONUS facility as a museum

  17. Northern Rocky Mountain experimental forests: Settings for science, management, and education alliances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theresa B. Jain; Michael A. Battaglia; Russell T. Graham

    2014-01-01

    Society's view of forests and what they produce changed considerably during the latter part of the 20th century. Prior to the 1970s, society believed that forests in the western United States provided a seemingly infinite supply of natural resources and economic prosperity. The public trusted experts to make forest management decisions dedicated to resource...

  18. Hepatitis C serosorting among people who inject drugs in rural Puerto Rico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, Ian; Curtis, Ric; Reyes, Juan Carlos; Abadie, Roberto; Khan, Bilal; Dombrowski, Kirk

    2017-06-01

    Due to the high cost of treatment, preventative measures to limit Hepatitis C (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID) are encouraged by many public health officials. A key one of these is serosorting, where PWID select risk partners based on concordant HCV status. Research on the general U.S. population by Smith et al. (2013) found that knowledge of one's own HCV status facilitated serosorting behaviors among PWID, such that respondents with knowledge of their own status were more likely to ask potential partners about their status prior to sharing risk. Our objective was to see if this held true in rural Puerto Rico. We replicate this study using a sample of PWID in rural Puerto Rico to draw comparisons. We used respondent driven sampling to survey 315 participants, and have a final analytic sample of 154. The survey was heavily modeled after the National HIV Behavioral Survey, which was the dataset used by the previous researchers. We found that among PWID in rural Puerto Rico, unlike in the general population, knowledge of one's own HCV status had no significant effect on the selection of one's most recent injection partner, based on his/her HCV status. We conclude that PWID in rural Puerto Rico differ from the general U.S. population when it comes to serosorting behaviors, and that these differences should be taken into account in future outreaches and intervention strategies.

  19. Measures Taken to Prevent Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy - Puerto Rico, 2016.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Angelo, Denise V; Salvesen von Essen, Beatriz; Lamias, Mark J; Shulman, Holly; Hernandez-Virella, Wanda I; Taraporewalla, Aspy J; Vargas, Manuel I; Harrison, Leslie; Ellington, Sascha R; Soto, Leslianne; Williams, Tanya; Rodriguez, Aurea; Shapiro-Mendoza, Carrie K; Rivera, Brenda; Cox, Shanna; Pazol, Karen; Rice, Marion E; Dee, Deborah L; Romero, Lisa; Lathrop, Eva; Barfield, Wanda; Smith, Ruben A; Jamieson, Denise J; Honein, Margaret A; Deseda, Carmen; Warner, Lee

    2017-06-09

    Zika virus infection during pregnancy remains a serious health threat in Puerto Rico. Infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly, brain abnormalities, and other severe birth defects (1). From January 1, 2016 through March 29, 2017, Puerto Rico reported approximately 3,300 pregnant women with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection (2). There is currently no vaccine or intervention to prevent the adverse effects of Zika virus infection during pregnancy; therefore, prevention has been the focus of public health activities, especially for pregnant women (3). CDC and the Puerto Rico Department of Health analyzed data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Zika Postpartum Emergency Response (PRAMS-ZPER) survey conducted from August through December 2016 among Puerto Rico residents with a live birth. Most women (98.1%) reported using at least one measure to avoid mosquitos in their home environment. However, only 45.8% of women reported wearing mosquito repellent daily, and 11.5% reported wearing pants and shirts with long sleeves daily. Approximately one third (38.5%) reported abstaining from sex or using condoms consistently throughout pregnancy. Overall, 76.9% of women reported having been tested for Zika virus by their health care provider during the first or second trimester of pregnancy. These results can be used to assess and refine Zika virus infection prevention messaging and interventions for pregnant women and to reinforce measures to promote prenatal testing for Zika.

  20. Island in Crisis: Response to Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zenere, Frank J.

    2018-01-01

    On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm packing winds of 185 miles per hour skirted the northern coast of Puerto Rico, leaving 1 million residents without electrical power. Schools were closed for 5 days, but a major calamity was narrowly avoided. Overall, residents were grateful for their good fortune, but the same could not be…