Introduction: Disturbance and Caribbean ecosystems

The fifteen articles in this special issue describe long-term (greater than or equal to 5 years) responses or perspectives on disturbance in Caribbean ecosystems. Most (11) of the articles describe the responses of Caribbean forests to hurricane disturbance, particularly the effects of Hurricane Hugo on wet forest in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), Puerto Rico. Ten articles discuss, alone or in addition to hurricanes, the effects of other types of disturbance including that due to humans, treefalls, drought, and landslides. In this introductory article we summarize the post-hurricane trajectories of various ecosystem components in the LEE We also address how responses to other types of disturbance can be brought together to obtain a more thorough understanding of the comparative responses of Caribbean ecosystems to different disturbances. Finally we identify those areas of disturbance ecology in the Caribbean that require further investigation.