Habitat conversion from forest to agriculture and then to degraded land is the single biggest factor in the present biological crisis (Dobson, et al., 1997), and predicting responses of ecosystems to perturbation is among the greatest challenges to ecology.
Effective experimentation requires dedicated sites to provide long-term data for evaluating environmental changes and management actions, and develop the indicators and basic knowledge necessary to understand and manage ecosystems. This research station will be the first step towards the development of a database that allows the organization of data and the analysis of time series and correlations in the karstic moist forest.
Mata de Platano Reserve is located some 7 km southwest of Arecibo, within Puerto Rico's northern karstic belt. The reserve consists of few undisturbed areas interspersed among different succesional stages of moist forest. Common vegetation includes: Allophyllus crassinervis, Ardisia obovata, Casearia decandra, C. guianensis, C. sylvestris, Clusia rosea, Exothea paniculata, Homalium racemosum, Krugiadendron ferreum, Ocotea coriacea, Amyris elemifera, Tetrazygia eleagnoides, Trichilia pallida, and the endemic species Thouinia striata.
The most notable aspect of Mata de Platano's fauna is its bat-boa interactions. Located within the reserve is Culebrones cave, where a large number of boas (Epicrates inornatus) congregate to feed on bats as they exit. The Puerto Rican boa is an endemic species listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, the bat fauna in the cave include six species (46% of the species on the island) with a combined population size before hurricane Georges of approximately 300,000 individuals (Rodríguez-Durán, 1996), representing a large force in the flux of energy through the ecosystem.
The karst region of northern Puerto Rico lies mostly within the subtropical moist forest life zone (Birdsey and Weaver, 1982) the largest life zone in Puerto Rico but one of the least studied. Although for obvious reasons these areas of karst topography are not vast, they have aroused the interest of karst specialists, especially from Europe, because of the excellent examples of cone karst, tower-karst, and many features not known elsewhere (Monroe, 1976). Located along the north coast and rich in raw materials for the construction industry, the karst country is under great pressure for development.
Research on the structure of bat communities is currently being conducted at Mata de Platano and ten minority students have been involved in undergraduate or graduate research at the site. By providing suitable facilities, we expect to gradually increase the pool of scientists working in this region. Initial projects are expected to include areas such as plant ecology, phenology, community ecology, and restoration ecology. Recent and present projects conducted partly or exclusively at this site include:
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Rodríguez-Durán, A. and T. H. Kunz. 2001. Biogeography of bats of the West Indies: An ecological perspective. In Biogeography of the West Indies (C. Woods and F. Sergile, eds.) CRC Press.
Rodríguez-Durán, A. 2005. Mamíferos Voladores. In Historia Natural de Puerto Rico (R. Joglar, ed.) Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico.
Rodríguez-Durán, A. (In Press.). Bat Assemblages in the West Indies: The Role of Caves. In Island Bats: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation (T. H. Fleming and P. Racey, eds.). University of Chicago Press.
Soto-Centeno, J.A. and A. Kurta. 2003. Description of fetal and newborn brown flower bats, Erophylla sezekorni. Carib. J. of Science 39:233-234.
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Trejo-Torres, J.C. 2006. Plantas raras de la zona caliza del norte de Puerto Rico. Report to Ciudadanos del Karso, Inc.
Trejo-Torres, J.C. (submitted). Propuesta para la designación de 13 especies de plantas endémicas del Karso Norteño de Puerto Rico como En Peligro (EN) y En Peligro Crítico (CR). Documento sometido por Ciudadanos del Karso, Inc. al Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico, febrero de 2006.
Trejo-Torres, J.C. (submitted). A new tree species from the northern karst of Puerto Rico, Tabebuia karsana (Bignoniaceae). Submitted to Kew Bulletin (Royal Botanic Gardens, UK) in September 2005.
Trejo-Torres, J.C. (submitted). Reynosia vivesiana (Rhamnaceae), a new shrub species from a dry forest in Puerto Rico. Submitted to Novon (Missouri Botanical Garden, USA) in November 2005.
Trejo-Torres, J.C. & M. A. Caraballo-Ortiz (Unpublished). Notes on the Antillean Flora, I. New Records of Trees for Puerto Rico: Coccoloba buchii (Polygonaceae) and Ocotea acarina (Lauraceae). Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to the journal Moscosoa (National Botanic Garden, Dominican Republic).
Trejo-Torres J.C.; S. Martinuzzi & W. Gould. (submitted). Cálculo de la “extensión de presencia estimada” y del “área de ocupación estimada” de las plantas endémicas del Karso Norteño de Puerto Rico (sensu IUCN, 2001) con base en un modelo de landforms producido por el Laboratorio de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, del Instituto Internacional de Dasonomía Tropical adscrito al Servicio Forestal del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (IITF - USDA).
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