4 ON EXPEDITION Puerto Rico’s Biodiversity: In the Path of Progress By Alvaro Calonje and Michael Calonje On a warm November afternoon in 1493, the men in Christopher Columbus’ second expedition to the Americas became the first Europeans to discover the island of Puerto Rico. When they set foot on the white beaches of the island, they must have beheld a pristine forest inhabited by the native Taino Indians who generously greeted these strange visitors thinking them to be immortal gods. It is ironic that the Tainos showered the Spaniards with gold that, as colonization of the island began fifteen years later, they would be mining as slaves. Centuries of agriculture and urbanization decimated the original forest cover until by the late 1940s only 6% remained. Agriculture ▲ A majestic pair of Sabal causiarum. yielded to industry and commerce as the main economic activity, and Puerto Rico ▼ The authors find a spot in the sun to write up gained back about a third of the original field notes on a Zamia population. forest cover by 1990. However, urban areas began to encroach, and Puerto Rico is once again experiencing rapid forest loss. One afternoon while visiting Dr. Ironmonger. We met in the town of Coamo We commenced our expedition seek- Terrence Walters at Montgomery Botanical in the southern part of the island on ing out populations of Z. portoricensis, Center, he mentioned that MBC had only the leeward, dry side. It was a perfect an endemic species growing in the lime- a small number of Puerto Rican palm and Caribbean day, the sky a deep blue and the stone soils of western Puerto Rico. Arnaldo cycad accessions. Because the rampant breeze gentle and balmy. Astacio from the Puerto Rico Department urbanization in Puerto Rico was resulting Our main goal was to sample cycad of Agriculture assisted us with permitting in a threat to biodiversity, we agreed that it populations on the island while possibly and served as our guide. would be advantageous to sample some of shedding some light on their confused Our first stop was an area by a river the native palm and cycad flora for MBC’s taxonomy. In our preliminary investiga- where Arnaldo had seen a healthy popula- ex-situ scientific collection as soon as pos- tions, we heard mentions of three different tion of Z. portoricensis 10 years ago. When sible. And so, a few months later, another cycad species native to the island: Zamia we arrived there were no cycads in sight. kind of expedition set out towards Puerto amblyphyllidia, Z. portoricensis and Z. After searching for over an hour with no Rico; this one seeking seeds rather than pumila. We were armed with a list of local- luck, we decided it was a lost cause, and gold and sponsored, not by Spain, but by ities to explore that came from various we headed down to the river for a picnic Montgomery Botanical Center—an expedi- sources, including some compiled by Sabra lunch. As we descended towards the river, tion to preserve rather than exploit. from the NYBG herbarium. Unfortunately, we were astonished to see there was a After Michael and I arrived in Puerto most of their vouchers were very old, single small Z. portoricensis plant growing Rico for the three-week field expedition, some dating back to the late 1800s. A lot on a sheer cliffside below us. The drop was we were soon joined by my other son had changed in Puerto Rico since then. We over 100 feet and there was no way to get Christopher, Sabra Turnbull from New came to the sad realization that most of closer to the plant; we even got nervous York Botanical Garden (NYBG), and cycad the once-forested localities on the list were as Bruce carefully leaned over the cliff to enthusiasts Irvin McDaniels and Bruce now covered by concrete. photograph it. 5 What was once a healthy population We followed a map drawn by Dennis Papo led us to a banana plantation by a decade ago was now represented by a Stevenson of NYBG to the site to find very the Guajataca river where he knew of a single individual clinging to the side of large plants but little evidence of seedling Z. amblyphyllidia population. They were an inaccessible cliff. With no other plants regeneration. Ancient herbarium vouchers to be found two miles up and down a hot, in the vicinity, its chances of reproducing from NYBG mentioned Z. portoricensis dusty road. The effort proved worthwhile, were greatly diminished. Most likely, this and Z. pumila occurring in the park, but as the population had many large plants cycad population was devastated by over the park rangers assured us only Z. portori- with cones at all stages of maturity, includ- collecting for commercial nurseries. censis occurred there. ing eight female plants with bright red ripe Not to be discouraged, we proceeded to For our last search for Z. portoricensis, seeds. This was the healthiest cycad popu- visit a population of Z. portoricensis near in the Susua Commonwealth Forest, we lation we had seen to date, as well as the Ponce, at a place we referred to as “The were joined by Brian Brunner, head of the most successful collection. Dump.” There were a few plants scattered Master’s Program in Horticulture at the But even this happy find did not pre- about the understory of a beautiful dry University of Puerto Rico. pare us for our next discovery in the moist The forest’s ecosystem is similar to that forest of the Cambalache Natural Reserve. of Guanica but differs substantially in its The Zamia amblyphyllidia population at soil composition and climate. It receives Cambalache was the largest population twice as much annual rainfall (1400 mm), most of us had ever seen, and had to be and consequently the trees are much taller one of the most dense cycad populations and leafier. A great deal of the yearly rain- in the world. We could hardly take three fall must have decided to fall that day, soak- steps without running into another plant. ing us completely through. Fortunately the We sampled the population range for rain was nicely warm. hours when a ranger offered to drive us to We were happy to see that the con- a site where Gaussia attenuata occurred. servation outlook for this population was The Gaussias were interesting-looking much more promising. Before us were palms, much taller than the surrounding hundreds of plants at all stages of coning canopy, albeit with a very sparse crown, and very healthy seedling regeneration. We supported by an incredible mass of thick even found evidence of dispersal in small, roots tightly wrapped around coral rocks. scattered piles of seeds, often away from But sadly, our visit to the reserve was a any possible mother plants. Many had tell- case of saving the best for last because this, tale rodent bite marks on the seed’s fleshy our most successful collection, marked the ▲ layer. We were fortunate to find enough end of our trip.Driving back towards San Experiencing first-hand the region’s mature seeds at this site to finally obtain a Juan as the mogote and forest panorama heavy annual rainfall, the expedition team discovers an unusually large and healthy population sample of this species for MBC. changed to buildings and cars, we reflect- population of Zamia portoricensis growing This experience marked the end of our ed on what we had seen that weighed within the protection of Puerto Rico’s Z. portoricensis itinerary, and we headed heavily against the fate of Puerto Rico’s Susua Commonwealth Forest. to a house we had rented in the moun- biodiversity. Apart from the decimated and tains bordering Maricao State Forest. The declining populations, we noted a prolif- deck had an amazing view of a highland eration of invasive species in many of the forest that was situated next to enormous forest where Prestoea montana palms sites visited. We saw a population of Sabal heaps of old couches, rusty cars, refrigera- were dominant. As night crept in, we had causiarum living its last days surrounded tors, and you name it discarded by environ- a lovely moonlit dinner while listening to by a golf course. A stately Coccothrinax mentally unconscious people. the musical chants of coqui frogs. barbadensis palm was bulldozed before The Zamia population was not very The next morning, we started our quest our very eyes. How much of what we saw dense nor the individuals very old. We sus- to visit populations of Zamia amblyphyl- would be there if we returned in ten years’ pected this site had fallen victim to some lidia in Puerto Rico’s north coastal lime- time? over-collecting as well. It took over two stone hills (mogotes). Our first site was On a more positive note, we were glad hours to find a single seed, but at least it on a mogote marked by a stately Gaussia to see that many incredible ecosystems indicated some pollination was occurring. attenuata palm with an understory con- were preserved in Puerto Rico’s national The few coning plants showed little evi- taining a young population of cycads. The parks, and several concerned institutions dence of seedling regeneration. It had been plants exhibited extreme differences in and individuals were making efforts to sal- a dry year so we hoped there were hid- leaflet width and arrangement. Close by, vage Puerto Rico’s biodiversity for future den seedlings covered by the abundance we found a cycad with leaflets so small, it generations. of leaf litter.