Landslide Disturbance and Forest Regeneration in the Upper Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

Abstract

The natural landslide disturbance regime and the major trends in post-landslide succession were studied within a 44-km 2 belt between 530 and 850 m a.s.l. (subtropical lower montane wet forest, sensu Holdridge) in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Examination of aerial photographs from 1936 to 1988, and field surveys, revealed forty-six landslides. Forty per cent of the landslides had map areas (the horizontal projection of their actual areas) between 200 and 400 m 2 . Landslides>1800 m 2 comprised less than 10% of the sample, but accounted for about 40% of the total map area disturbed (...)