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Moca

Dewey

Ceiba

Loíza

Cayey

Cidra

Coamo

Ponce

Yauco

Lares

Lajas

Camuy

Juncos

Gurabo

Cataño

Caguas

Arroyo

Dorado

Ciales

Manatí

Jayuya

Utuado

Añasco

Rincón

Aguada

Humacao

Naguabo

Fajardo

Bayamón

Yabucoa

Maunabo

Guayama

Comerío

Salinas

CorozalMorovis

Florida

Arecibo

Guánica

Hatillo

Maricao

Isabela

LuquilloCarolina

San Juan

Guaynabo

Patillas

Toa Alta

Toa Baja

AibonitoVillalba

Orocovis

Peñuelas

Adjuntas

Mayagüez

Isabel II

Canóvanas

Naranjito

Vega Alta

Vega Baja

Cabo Rojo

Aguadilla

Río Grande

Juana Díaz

Guayanilla

San Germán

Las Marias

Las PiedrasSan Lorenzo

Barceloneta

Hormigueros

Quebradilla

Aguas Buenas

Santa Isabel

Barranquitas

Trujillo Alto

Sábana Grande

San Sebastián

65°30'0"W

65°30'0"W

66°0'0"W

66°0'0"W

66°30'0"W

66°30'0"W

67°0'0"W

67°0'0"W

67°30'0"W

67°30'0"W

18°30

'0"N

18°30

'0"N

18°0'

0"N

18°0'

0"N

17°30

'0"N

17°30

'0"N

A T L A N T I C O C E A N

Vieques

Culebra

La Cordillera ReefIcacos Cay

Palominos

ReferencesBawiec, W .J. 2001. Geology, Geochem istry, Geophysics, Minera l occurrences, and Minera l R esources Assessm ent for the Com m onwea lth of Puerto R ico. USGS Open filereport 98-38.Birkeland, P.W . 1984. Soils and geom orphology Oxford University Press, New Y ork. 372 p.Chapin III, F.-S.; S turm , M.; S erreze, M.C.; McFa dden, J.P.; K ey, J.R .; Lloyd, A.H.; McGuire, A.D.; R upp, T .S.; Lynch, A.H.; S chim el, J.P.; Beringer, J.; Chapm an, W .L.;Epstein, H.E.; Euskirchen, E.S.; Hinzm an, L.D.; Jia, G.; Ping, C.-L.; T ape, K .D.; T hom pson, C.D.C.; W a lker, D.A.; W elker, J.M. 2005. R ole of land-surfa ce changes in arcticsum m er warm ing. S cience. 310: 657-660.Ewel J.J.; W hitm ore, J.L. 1973. T he Ecologica l Life Z ones of Puerto R ico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. Forest S ervice research paper IT F-18.Figueroa-Colón J.C. 1996. Geoclim a tic regions of Puerto R ico (m ap). U.S. Dept. Interior Geol. S urv. W a ter R es. Div. S an Juan, PR .Gould, W .A.; González, G.; Carrero R ivera, G. 2006. S tructure and com position of vegeta tion a long an elevationa l gra dient in Puerto R ico. Journa l of Vegetation S cience.17: 653-664.

Martinuzzi, S.; Gould, W .A.; R a m os-González, O.M.; Edwards, B. 2007. Developm ent of a landform m odel for Puerto R ico and its applica tion for land cover change ana lysis.Caribbean Journa l of S ciences. 43:161-171.USGS 2005. T he Nationa l Hydrography Dataset (NHD). U.S. Geologica l S urvey, R eston, Virginia.Additional data sourcesClim a te (Holdridge lifezones): Modified from Ewel and W hitm ore (1973).Geology: T he geology dataset was derived and genera lized from the Geologic T erranes of Puerto R ico by Bawiec (2001).Hydrography data set: T he hydrography dataset was derived and genera lized from T he Nationa l Hydrography Dataset (NHD). T he NHD was originated by the U.S. Geologica lS urvey in cooperation with U.S. Environm enta l Protection Agency, USDA Forest S ervice, and other Federa l, S tate and loca l partners. 2005. R eston, Virginia. T his data set ispresented as vector digita l da ta genera lly developed at 1:24 000/1:12 000 sca le.Landform s: Gould, W .A.; Martinuzzi, S.; Jim énez, M.E.; Edwards, B.R .; R a m os-González, O.M. 2008. T opographic units of Puerto R ico. S ca le 1: 260 000. IIT F-R MAP-04.R ío Piedras, PR : US Departm ent of Agriculture Forest S ervice, Internationa l Institute of T ropica l Forestry.Urban centers: T his data set was developed by the GIS and R em ote S ensing La b of the Internationa l Institute of T ropica l Forestry using visua l interpretation of existing m aps.Ea ch point in the data set represents the approxim a te urban center for ea ch m unicipa lity.

Suggested citatitonGould, W .A.; Jim énez, M.E.; Potts, G.S.; Quiñones, M.; Martinuzzi, S. 2008. Landscape units of Puerto R ico: Influence of clim a te, substrate, and topography. S ca le 1: 260000. IIT F-R MAP-06. R ío Piedras, PR : US Departm ent of Agriculture Forest S ervice, Internationa l Institute of T ropica l Forestry.AcknowledgementsT his research was supported by the United S tates Geologica l S urvey Biologica l R esources Division Nationa l Gap Progra m cooperative a greem ent No. 01HQPG0031 (01-IA-111201-002), the Puerto R ico GAP Ana lysis Progra m (PR GAP) the IIT F GIS and R em ote S ensing La boratory and the USDA Forest S ervice International Institute of T ropica lForestry. Specia l thanks to reviewers for critica l reviews of the m ap. T his research was conducted in colla boration with the University of Puerto R ico.

T he m ost a bundant landform s in Puerto R ico are the m oist and wet slopes on volcanic substrates ofthe Centra l and Luquillo Mountains, which include 40% of the area. Moist and wet slopes onlim estone substrates m a ke up 10% of the area. Dry hills and slopes m a ke up 6% of the area, with30% of these on lim estone and the rem a ining 70% on volcanic and ultra m a fic serpentinesubstrates. Nearly 12% of the landscape is m a de up of ridges and 90% of these are in the m oist andwet clim a tic regions. Moist pla ins include 16% of the area and dry pla ins include 8% of the area.W etlands and depressions, not including open water bodies, m a ke up 5% of the area. Nearly 70%of these are in m oist clim a tic regions and just under 30% in dry clim a tic regions.

Desecheo

Caja de Muertos

C A R I B B E A N S E A

A T L A N T I C O C E A NUnited States

Cuba

Jamaica

Puerto RicoHaiti

DominicanRepublic

Landscape units of Puerto Rico:Influence of climate, substrate, and topographyWilliam A. Gould, Michael E. Jiménez, Gary S. Potts, Maya Quiñones, and Sebstián MartinuzziUSDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF)

C A R I B B E A N S E A

Map descriptionT he landscape units m ap of Puerto R ico represents clim a tic, substrate, and topographic varia tion by integrating six clim a tic zones (Ewel and W hitm ore 1973), six distinct substrates (Bawiec 2001, USGS 2005), fivetopographic positions or landform s (Martinuzzi et a l. 2007), and prom inent la kes and rivers (USGS 2005). S ubstrates were a sim plified set of Bawiec’s (2001) twelve geologic terrane units and include creta ceous andtertiary lim estone deposits, a lluvium and other unconsolida ted quaternary deposits, intrusive and extrusive volcanic form a tions and volcaniclastic sedim entary deposits (reworked sedim ents of volcanic origin – m ay orm ay not be ca lcareous), and ultra m a fic serpentine and a m phibolite form ations (low quartz content – typica lly high pH). W e a lso delinia ted sa line and nonsa line wetlands (USGS 2005). T he resulting m ap displa ys a set of57 landscape units for the islands. T he m ap builds on earlier work by Figueroa (1996) m apping geoclim a tic variation in Puerto R ico and was developed for the purpose of understanding and m odeling varia tion invegeta tion. Natura l varia tion in vegetation has a hierarchy of environm enta l controls, including clim a te, geochem ica l substrates, topography, and disturbance. Geospatia l inform a tion on these controls is useful form odeling potentia l variation in vegetation cover and associa ted ecosystem properties.

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service has developed this information for the guidance of its employees, its contractors, and its cooperating Federal and State agencies. It is not responsible for the interpretation or use of this informationby anyone except its own employees. The use of trade, firm, corporation, or association names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader and does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of any product or service.This product is reproduced from geospatial information prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. GIS data and product accuracy may vary. They may be developed from sources of differing accuracy, accurate only at certain scales,based on modeling or interpretation, incomplete while being created or revised. Using GIS products for purposes other than those or for which they were created may yield inaccurate or misleading results. This information was released on the aboveindicated date. The Forest Service reserves the right to correct, update, modify, or replace GIS products without notification.

Clim

ate (H

oldrid

ge lif

ezone

s)

SubstrateLim estone Alluvia l and

unconsolida tedquaternary

Ultra m a ficigneous Volcanic and

volcanicla sticS ubtropica ldry forest

S ubtropica lm oist forest

S ubtropica lwet forest

S ubtropica lra in forest

Lower m ontanewet forest

Lower m ontanera in forest

S ixteen geoclim a tic regions integra te clim a teand geologic inform a tion using Holdridge'slifezones (Ewel and W hitm ore 1973) and theUS GS (Ba wiec 2001) geology of Puerto R ico.

Climate and substrate

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Landscape unitsT his datest is the result of the integra tion ofgeospa tia l da ta on landform s and geoclim a teregions of Puerto R ico. W e derived 57 classesincluding water and four types of wetlands.

Clim a tic controls include the range, m ean, and varia bility of a ir tem peratures andprecipitation regula ted by la titudina l gra dients, globa l atm ospheric patterns, orographicpatterns, and feedba cks with landcover (Chapin et a l. 2005).S ubstrate chara cteristics (geochem istry) include soil pH, nutrient ava ila bility, andtexture, which strongly affect plant species com position (Gould et a l. 2006).Geochem istry is related to exposed bedrock, quaternary deposits, land use history, andbiologica l processes.T opography affects plant species com position by influencing soil m oisture,developm ent, texture, and chem istry (Birkeland 1984). S lope position is a lso related todisturbance and particular landform s m a y be m ore or less influenced by flooding,storm s, landslides, fire, or hum an developm ent.

●

●

● T he landform s da taset includes five slopepositions m odeled using elevation andtopography (Martinuzzi et a l. 2007).

Slope positions

R idgeUpper slopeLower slopePla in

Lower slopePla in

Upper slopeR idge

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

Lower slopePla in

R idgeUpper slope

W etlands anddepressions

Moist non-sa lineDry sa lineDry non-sa line

Moist sa line

67°52'30"W

67°52'30"W

68°0'0"W

68°0'0"W

18°7'

30"N

18°7'

30"N

18°0'

0"N

18°0'

0"N

Mona Island

Monito

Mona and MonitoM O N A P A S S A G E

PRGAP ANALYSIS PROJECTIITF GIS and Remote Sensing Lab

A center for tropical landscape analysis

¤SCALE: 1: 260 000

Lambert Comformal Conic ProjectionNorth American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83)

10 0 10 20 30 40

Kilometers

4.5 0 4.5 9 13.5 18

Miles

USDA FS IITF, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Río Piedras, PR 00926-1119, Puerto Rico.

Publication date: November 2008

R ivers/S trea m sLakes/R eservoirs

&( Urban centers

DRNAgap

K E E P I N G C O M M O N S P E C I E S CO M M O N