Early Succession Forests and Storms

The scores on this component (factor) were high and positive when storm intensity was high but storm frequency was low. Intensity was the most important attribute of the storms relative to the forest dynamics shown here. When hurricane intensity is high stem frequencies are high and basal area, biomass and leaf area index low. Pioneer species dominate over mature forest species. The models indicate that high storm intensity would tends to drive the Tabonuco forest Luquillo be in early succession stages more often than late succession stages.