Abstract
On 18 September 1989 Hurricane Hugo defoliated large forested areas of northeastern Puerto Rico. In two severely damaged subtropical wet forest sites, a mean of 1006-1083 g/m2, or 419-451 times the mean daily input of fine litter (leaves, small wood, and miscellaneous debris) was deposited on the forest floor. An additional 928 g/m2 of litter was suspended above the ground. A lower montane rain forest site received 682 times the mean daily fine litterfall. The concentrations of N and P in the hurricane leaf litter ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 and 1.7 to 3.3 times the concentrations of N and P in normal leaffall, respectively. In subtropical wet forest, fine litterfall from the hurricane contained 1.3 and 1.5-2.4 times the mean annual litterfall inputs of N and P, respectively. These sudden high nutrient inputs apparently altered nutrient cycling.
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