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El Yunque - Caribbean National Forest, Puerto
Rico - US Forest Service
On March 14, 2010 the Eastern Native Tree Society and Western Native
Tree Society switched from discussion lists on Google Groups to a new
discussion list in a Bulletin Board format at:
http://www.ents-bbs.org/index.php Posts made since the inception
of the BBS on March 14, 2010 will be sorted and archived on the BBS.
Click on the link to go to the equivalent section on the new BBS. This
website will continue to serve as a front end for the ENTS and WNTS
groups. It will continue to serve as a repository of older posts, and
will serve as the host site for special projects and features that are
not well suited for a BBS format. Please visit the BBS for the latest
information and trip reports.
- Caribbean National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/
 Located
on the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles
group, the Caribbean National Forest is the sole tropical rain
forest in the U.S. National Forest System. The forest’s relatively
small 28, 000 acre size belies its importance. It differs
significantly from all the other U.S. National Forests because of
its year-round tropical climate and immense biodiversity.
The rugged Luquillo Mountains that rise to 3,533 ft. above sea
level comprise most of the forest land. Their steep slopes can
sometimes receive rainfall of over 200 inches (508 centimeters) at
higher elevations! Caressed by gentle easterly winds the forest has
an average temperature of 73° F (21° C), and seasonal changes are
almost imperceptible. It is the ideal climate for exuberant tropical
vegetation. The rain forest is noted for its biodiversity; it is
“home” to thousands of native plants including 150 fern species,
240 tree species (88 of these are endemic or rare and 23 are
exclusively found in this forest). The Caribbean National Forest has
no large wildlife species, but hundreds of smaller animals abound in
this gentle forest, many of which exist nowhere else on the planet!!
- Caribbean National Forest (El Yunque) from GORP - http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_national_forest/pr_carib.htm
- Images of El Yunque http://www.solboricua.com/elyunque/
- LUQUILLO EXPERIMENTAL FOREST LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT
http://luq.lternet.edu/ Overview of the research project::
The Luquillo Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LUQ) program is located in the Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico. LUQ is part of a network of Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) programs in the United States (funded by the US National Science Foundation) and elsewhere, all of which address core research questions in the context of local research goals. The main goal of LUQ studies is to understand the long-term dynamics of tropical forest ecosystems characterized by large-scale, infrequent disturbance, rapid processing of organic material, and high habitat and species diversity.
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