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The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project Volume 1: Land Cover, Vertebrate Species Distributions, and Land Stewardship

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The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project Volume 1: Land Cover, Vertebrate Species Distributions, and Land Stewardship United States Department of Agriculture The Puerto Rico Gap Forest Service Analysis Project Volume 1: Land Cover, Vertebrate Species International Institute Distributions, and Land Stewardship of Tropical Forestry General Technical William A. Gould, Caryl Alarcón, Brick Fevold, Michael E. Jiménez, Report Sebastián Martinuzzi, Gary Potts, Maya Quiñones, Mariano Solórzano, IITF-GTR-39 and Eduardo Ventosa March 2008 The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sus- tained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and manage- ment of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795- 3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Authors William A. Gould is a research ecologist, Maya Quiñones and Michael E. Jiménez are geographic information systems specialists, Mariano Solórzano is a biologist, and Gary Potts is a remote sensing specialist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 00926-1119. Caryl Alarcón is a geographer, National Park Service, South Flordia National Resources Center, Homestead, FL 33030. Brick Fevold is an environmental analysis and review specialist, Bureau of Integrated Science Services, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI 53707. Sebastián Martinuzzi is an ecologist, University of La Plata—LISEA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, PR 00926-1119. Eduardo Ventosa is an ecologist, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Research performed under cooperative agreement no. 01HQPG0031 (01-IA-111201-002). The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project Volume 1: Land Cover, Vertebrate Species Distributions, and Land Stewardship William A. Gould, Caryl Alarcón, Brick Fevold, Michael E. Jiménez, Sebastián Martinuzzi, Gary Potts, Maya Quiñones, Mariano Solórzano, and Eduardo Ventosa U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 00926-1119 U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Gap Analysis Program LIST OF PROJECT AFFILIATES Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University United States Geological Survey Biological Resources Division i Errata for IITF-GTR-39 Figure captions on pages 5 and 58 have been reversed: Page 5 is the endemic Puerto Rican Tody ( Todus mexicanus ) and page 58 is the endemic Puerto Rican flycatcher ( Myarchus antillarum ). Citations omitted: Landcover mapping of Mona Island aided by the work of Cintrón and Rogers (1991). Landscape units (Figures 7 and 9) build on previous work by Figueroa-Colón (1996). References: Cintrón, B.; Rogers, L. 1991. Plant communities of Mona Island. Acta Científica. 5:10-64. Figueroa-Colón, J.C. 1996. Geoclimatic regions of Puerto Rico (map). San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water Resources Division. Errata for IITF-GTR-39 Figure captions on pages 5 and 58 have been reversed: Page 5 is the endemic Puerto Rican Tody ( Todus mexicanus ) and page 58 is the endemic Puerto Rican flycatcher ( Myarchus antillarum ). Citations omitted: Landcover mapping of Mona Island aided by the work of Cintrón and Rogers (1991). Landscape units (Figures 7 and 9) build on previous work by Figueroa-Colón (1996). References: Cintrón, B.; Rogers, L. 1991. Plant communities of Mona Island. Acta Científica. 5:10-64. Figueroa-Colón, J.C. 1996. Geoclimatic regions of Puerto Rico (map). San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water Resources Division. Abstract Gould, William A.; Alarcón, Caryl; Fevold, Brick; Jiménez, Michael E.; Martinuzzi, Sebastián; Potts, Gary; Quiñones, Maya; Solórzano, Mariano; Ventosa, Eduardo. 2008. The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project. Volume 1: Land cover, vertebrate species distributions, and land stewardship. Gen. Tech. Rep. IITF-GTR-39. Río Piedras, PR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry. 165 p. Puerto Rico faces a number of problems common to much of the world. Population is increasing while land area is not, and there are reassessments of land use policy and practice to accommodate growing populations, shifting economies, and chang- ing public value systems. Puerto Rico shares similarities with the Eastern United States with its history of agricultural abandonment, relatively high population density, and abundance of “forested” suburban areas in the wildland-urban interface. Puerto Rico has affinities with other tropical regions with high biodiversity and an abundance of rare species. Puerto Rico shares similarities with small islands with space limitations, an abrupt terrestrial-marine interface, and species diversity controlled by the isolation of the island as well as climatic, evolutionary, and historical factors. The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project documents Puerto Rico’s land cover, vertebrate occurrences and natural history information, and land stew- ardship. The report has four major components: land cover mapping, documenta- tion of vertebrate species distributions, documentation of land stewardship practices with respect to conservation, and an integrated analysis of these three elements. Our current reserve system protects a number of important habitats and species and includes 7.6 percent of Puerto Rico. Expanding this to 15 percent would be more in line with internationally accepted conservation goals. Abandoned agricultural land serves as habitat for a number of species and buffers older forests, wetlands, ripar- ian areas, and reserves. These lands have excellent potential for restoration. Recom- mendations include expanded reserves in the coastal plain, particularly coastal hills and the matrix of wetland and upland vegetation; regulation of development in the periphery of existing reserves; and developing viable corridors to connect the upland and coastal reserves. Keywords: Biodiversity, conservation, tropical ecology, vertebrate diversity, land cover, Puerto Rico ii Summary The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project (PRGAP) is a comprehensive assemblage of information on Puerto Rico’s land cover, vertebrate occurrences and natural history information, and land stewardship. It is based on methods developed by the national Gap Analysis Program (GAP) to determine the degree to which animal species and natural communities are represented in the current mix of conservation lands. Those species or communities not well represented are considered conservation “gaps.” The PRGAP provides geographic and ecological information on the status of not only threatened or rare species, but the common species of Puerto Rico. The PRGAP project has four major components: land cover mapping, docu- mentation of vertebrate species distributions, documentation of land stewardship practices with respect to conservation, and an integrated analysis of these three elements. Land Cover We developed a land cover map of Puerto Rico using recent (1999–2003) satellite imagery and information on climate, geology, topography, hydrology, and land use history. We defined 70 land cover classes in a hierarchical classification scheme based on whether the cover is natural vegetation, developed, or agricultural and on whether the natural vegetation is closed forest, woodland, shrubland, or grassland. Forest and grassland classes are further defined as dry, moist, wet, or flooded. These units are then differentiated as occurring on soils derived from limestone, alluvial, serpentine, or noncalcareous substrates. A number of forest types are further classified as to the forest age (i.e., primary, mature secondary, or young secondary forests). Wetlands are classified as forested or herbaceous, saline or nonsaline, and seasonally flooded or emergent. Finally, where information is available, we present the dominant plant communities and species representative of these land cover units. We classified 53 percent of Puerto Rico as predominantly woody vegetation, 35 percent as grassland or herbaceous agriculture, 11 percent as developed land, and about 1 percent each of water and natural barrens. Of the woody areas, low and mid-elevation moist forests cover 26 percent, upper elevation wet forests cover 18 percent, dry forests cover 7 percent, and flooded mangrove
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