Tag: Puerto Rico

Data transparency for forests in Latin America and the Caribbean

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
In addition to providing food, medicine, timber, and many other things people need, forests store huge amounts of carbon. Forests also have the potential to release that carbon. Carbon accounting across entire regions is an increasingly important part of climate action, particularly international agreements. A new book, now available in English as well as Spanish,…  More 

Forests Supply Water to Puerto Rico

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Puerto Rico’s forests are still recovering from Hurricane Maria. Local scientists estimate that one out of five trees in the El Yunque National Forest were lost during or after the storm. Widespread forest restoration and monitoring efforts are underway. But that work isn’t focused on just the trees in those forests — water supply is an important ecosystem…  More 

Coweeta Technicians Travel to Puerto Rico

by Katie Bower, Coweeta LTER Research Technician  • 
Electric blue squares dotted the urban landscape. From the descending plane, USDA Forest Service visitors thought they might be swimming pools. Alas, they were tarps covering the roofs of homes and keeping leaks at bay on rainy days. These tarps were the first sign of lingering damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Broken roads, twisted…  More 

A City’s Dynamic Mangrove Forest

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
A recent report by U.S. Forest Service researchers on the forests of the San Juan Bay Estuary watershed provides details about a highly dynamic urban forest that provides important benefits for its residents. Tom Brandeis, supervisory research forester with the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Forest Inventory and Analysis unit, worked with other Forest…  More