Adapting Tropical Forest Policy and Practice in the Context of the Anthropocene: Opportunities and
5. Conclusions
Historically, land and resource managers of the EYNF in Puerto Rico focused mostly on the protection of resources and prevention of harm through a custodial approach to land and resource management. Research and learning on forest characteristics, functions, and processes were established early on in the EYNF. The custodial approach to land and resource management gave way to an increasingly scientific, top-down management approach focused on technically-founded decision making, often at the exclusion of outside input. This eventually opened up to a more holistic management approach focused on the forest as an ecosystem and incorporating collaboration and adaptive elements in forest management and decision-making. These changes in the EYNF management approach mostly have been reactive, slow, and incremental, with some rarer, rapid shifts primarily in response to major changes in USFS policy and guidance that have promoted increasing adaptiveness and flexibility, but also to significant processes or impacts on the ground, such as hurricanes and changes in land use.
Most recently, the EYNF has expanded its potential for learning, flexibility, and adaptiveness in land and resource decisions and practices, in large part through its early adoption of the 2012 National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning Rule. With sufficient, committed, and consistent resources, this policy shift could provide a robust framework for managing the EYNF into the future—particularly, given the certain uncertainty and surprise that are expected to increase for this tropical forest in the context of the Anthropocene. Building on decades of incremental change, the processes prescribed in the new Planning Rule provide the EYNF with a significant opportunity to make significant changes and blaze the trail for collaborative and adaptive forest management in the tropics. The EYNF is particularly well positioned to do so given its long history of forest research and close relations with scientists and research programs at the ready to engage in long term monitoring, experimentation, and feedback loops. It also has developed an inclusive and stable structure for meaningful collaboration with local communities and other active partners to engage in resource assessments, management decisions and applications, monitoring questions and collections, and analysis and interpretation of new information, within an adaptive management framework.
Collaborative relationships with local level stakeholders, productive ties to research and monitoring, and political support for adaptiveness and flexibility are critical elements in managing for the future resilience and sustainability of tropical forests, like the EYNF. Though the EYNF increasingly counts these and other important elements within its toolbox, this forest is likely to confront challenges as it shifts towards an organizational learning culture ready for and responsive to system changes and surprises [44,57,59]. Likewise, the development of a robust monitoring system with reliable and effective feedback loops will be critical, but not easily or inexpensively established or maintained [60,61]. The EYNF, like other forests in the National Forest System and throughout the tropics, must be afforded the necessary financial, human, and technical resources and the flexibility to put this new management approach into practice, to learn while doing, and adapt when necessary.
Considering progress to date in their land and resource management planning process, it seems quite probable that the EYNF will be well positioned to collaboratively and adaptively manage its land and resources for resilience and sustainability even in the context of the changes and surprises certain to come as we continue to move forward through the Anthropocene.
Acknowledgments:Many thanks to the El Yunque National Forest, which has supported various projects that have been instrumental in the development of the ideas in this article. Thanks also to Ariel Lugo, Grizelle González, and two anonymous reviewers for their input on earlier versions of this manuscript, which contributed to its improvement. The findings, conclusions, and views expressed in this manuscript are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the USDA Forest Service.
Conflicts of Interest:The author declares no conflict of interest.
References
1. Crutzen, P.J.; Stoermer, E.F. Global change newsletter.Anthropocene2000,41, 17–18.
2. Waters, C.N.; Zalasiewicz, J.; Summerhayes, C.; Barnosky, A.D.; Poirier, C.; Gałuszka, A.; Cearreta, A.;
Edgeworth, M.; Ellis, E.C. The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene.
Science2016,351, aad2622. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. Davies, J.The Birth of the Anthropocene; University of California Press: Oakland, CA, USA, 2016.
4. Millar, C.I.; Stephenson, N.L.; Stephens, S.L. Climate change and forests of the future: Managing in the face of uncertainty.Ecol. Appl.2007,17, 2145–2151. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. Heckenberger, M.J.; Kuikuro, A.; Kuikuro, U.T.; Russell, J.C.; Schmidt, M.; Fausto, C.; Franchetto, B.
Amazonia 1492: Pristine forest or cultural parkland?Science2003,301, 1710–1714. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6. Ford, A.; Nigh, R. The milpa cycle and the making of the Maya forest garden.Res. Rep. Belizean Archeol.2010, 7, 183–190.
7. Nigh, R. Trees, fire, and farmers: Making woods and soil in the Maya forest.J. Ethnobiol.2008,28, 231–243.
[CrossRef]
8. Berkes, F.; Colding, J.; Folke, C. Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management.
Ecol. Appl.2000,10, 1251–1262. [CrossRef]
9. Diamond, J.Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed; Penguin: New York, NY, USA, 2005.
10. Reyer, C.P.O.; Brouwers, N.; Rammig, A.; Brook, B.W.; Epila, J.; Grant, R.F.; Homgren, M.; Langerwisch, F.;
Leuzinger, S.; Lucht, W.; et al. Forest resilience and tipping points at different spatio-temporal scales:
Approaches and challenges.J. Ecol.2015,103, 5–15. [CrossRef]
11. Keenan, R.J. Climate change impacts and adaptation in forest management: A review.Ann. For. Sci.2015,72, 145–167. [CrossRef]
12. Holling, C.S. (Ed.) Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management; John Wiley and Sons: London, UK, 1978.
13. Millar, C.I.; Swanson, C.W.; Peterson, D.L. Adapting to Climate Change. InClimate Change and the United States Forests; Peterson, D.L., Vose, J.M., Patel-Weynad, T., Eds.; Springer: Dordecht, The Netherlands, 2014;
pp. 183–222.
14. Vose, J.; Peterson, D.; Patel-Weynand, T. (Eds.)Effects of Climatic Variability and Change on Forest Ecosystems:
A Comprehensive Science Synthesis for the U.S. Forest Sector; General Technical Report PNW-GTR-870;
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station: Corvallis, OR, USA;
Washington, DC, USA, 2012; p. 265.
15. Bhagwat, S.A.; Humphreys, D.; Jones, N. Forest governance in the Anthropocene: Challenges for theory and practice.For. Policy Econom.2017,79, 1–7. [CrossRef]
16. López-Marrero, T.; Hermansen-Báez, L.A.Land Cover within and around El Yunque National Forest. [Fact Sheet];
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Southern Research Station: Gainesville, FL; Knoxville, TN, USA, 2011; p. 4.
17. USDA Forest Service.Draft Revised Land and Resource Management Plan: El Yunque National Forest; USDA Forest Service: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, 2016.
18. Weaver, P.L.The Luquillo Mountains: Forest Resources and Their History; General Technical Report IITF-44;
USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry: Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 2012.
19. USDA Forest Service. Forest Plan Assessment El Yunque National Forest. Draft; USDA Forest Service:
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, 2014.
20. Scatena, F.N. An assessment of climate change in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. In Proceedings of the Tropical Hydrology and Caribbean Water Resources, Third International Symposium on Tropical Hydrology and Fifth Caribbean Islands Water Resources Congress, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12–16 July 1998;
Segarra-Garca, R.I., Ed.; American Water Resources Association: Herndon, VA, USA, 1998; pp. 193–199.
21. Briscoe, C.B.Weather in Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico; Res. Paper; ITF-3; Institute of Tropical Forestry:
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 1996; p. 250.
22. Waide, R.B.; Comarazamy, D.E.; González, J.E.; Hall, C.A.S.; Lugo, A.E.; Luvall, J.C.; Murphy, D.J.;
Ortiz-Zayas, J.R.; Ramírez-Beltran, N.D.; Scatena, F.N.; et al. Climate variability at multiple spatial and temporal scales in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico.Ecol. Bull.2013,54, 21–41.
23. Henareh Khalyani, A.; Gould, W.A.; Harmsen, E.; Terando, A.; Quiñones, M.; Collazo, J.A. Climate change implications for tropical islands: Interpolating and interpreting statistically downscaled GCM projections for management and planning.J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol.2016,55, 265–282. [CrossRef]
24. Hayhoe, K.Quantifying Key Drivers of Climate Variability and Change for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean;
Final Report to the Southeast Climate Science Center; Agreement No.: G10AC00582; Southeast Climate Science Center: Raleigh, NC, USA, 2013; p. 241.
25. Lasso, E.; Ackerman, J.D. Flowering phenology of (Werauhia sintenisii), a bromeliad from the dwarf montane forest in Puerto Rico: An indicator of climate change?Selbyana2003,24, 95–104.
26. Wunderle, J.M.; Arendt, W.J. Avian studies and research opportunities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest:
A tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico.For. Ecol. Manag.2011,262, 33–48. [CrossRef]
27. Schellekens, J.; Scatena, F.N.; Bruijnzeel, L.A.; Van Dijk, A.I.J.M.; Groen, M.M.A.; Van Hogezand, R.J.P.
Stormflow generation in a small rainforest catchment in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico.
Hydrol. Process.2004,18, 505–530. [CrossRef]
28. Jennings, L.N.; Douglas, J.; Treasure, E.; González, G.Climate Change Effects in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Region; Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-GTR-193; USDA-Forest Service, Southern Research Station: Asheville, NC, USA, 2014; p. 47.
29. Prideaux, B.; Coghlan, A.; McNamara, K. Assessing tourists’ perceptions of climate change on mountain landscapes.Tour. Recreat. Res.2010,35, 187–199. [CrossRef]
30. Hall, P.A. Historical Institutionalism in Rationalist and Sociological Perspective. InExplaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency and Power; Mahoney, J., Thelen, K., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2009.
31. Hall, P.; Taylor, R.C.R. Political science and the three new institutionalisms.Polit. Stud.1996,44, 936–957.
[CrossRef]
32. Thelen, K.How Institutions Evolve; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2004; pp. 208–240.
33. Mahoney, J.; Thelen, K. (Eds.) Explaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency and Power; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2009.
34. Steen, H.K.The U.S. Forest Service: A History; University of Washington Press: Seattle, WA, USA, 1976.
35. Wadsworth, F.H. Forest management in the Luquillo Mountains, II. Planning and multiple use.Caribb. For.
1952,13, 49–61.
36. Wadsworth, F.H. Review of past research in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. InA Tropical Rain Forest:
A Study of Irradiation and Ecology at El Verde, Puerto Rico; Odum, H.T., Pigeon, R.F., Eds.; U.S. Department of Commerce: Springfield, VA, USA, 1970; Chapter B-2; pp. 33–46.
37. Cubbage, F.W.; O’Laughlin, J.; Peterson, M.N.Natural Resource Policy; Waveland Press, Inc.: Long Grove, IL, USA, 2017.
38. USDA Forest Service.Final Land Use and Resource Management Plan; Caribbean National Forest: Palmer, Puerto Rico, 1986.
39. USDA Forest Service.Luquillo Forest Reserve Centennial 1903–2003; USDA Forest Service: Rio Grande/Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 2005. Available online:https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/about-forest/
?cid=fsbdev3_042988(accessed on 19 July 2017).
40. Nelson, R.H. The religion of forestry: Scientific management.J. For.1999,97, 4–8.
41. Brunner, R.D.; Steelman, T.A.; Coe-Juell, L.; Crowley, C.M.; Edwards, C.M.; Tucker, D.W.Adaptive Governance:
Integrating Science, Policy, and Decision Making; Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2005.
42. Grumbine, R.E. What is ecosystem management? Conserv. Biol.1994,8, 27–38. [CrossRef]
43. Christensen, N.L.; Bartuska, A.; Brown, J.H.; Carpenter, S.; D’Antonio, C.; Francis, R.; Franklin, J.F.;
MacMahon, J.A.; Noss, R.F.; Parsons, D.J.; et al. The report of the Ecological Society of America Committee on the scientific basis for ecosystem management.Ecol. Appl.1996,6, 665–691. [CrossRef]
44. Butler, K.F.; Koontz, T.M. Theory into practice: Implementing ecosystem management objectives in the USDA Forest Service.Environ. Manag.2005,35, 138–150. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
45. Robertson, D.Memo from Dale Robertson to Regional Foresters and Station Directors Entitled “Ecosystem Management of the National Forests and Grasslands”; Washington Office, USDA/Forest Service: Washington, DC, USA, 1992.
46. Thomas, J.W.Statement Concerning Implementation of Ecosystem Management Strategies before the Subcommittee on Agricultural Research, Conservation, and Forest and General Legislation; Committee on Agriculture, U.S. Senate:
Washington, DC, USA, 1994.
47. Killen, J.R.Federal Ecosystem Management Its Rise, Fall, and Afterlife; University Press of Kansas: Lawrence, KS, USA, 2015.
48. Koontz, T.; Bodine, J. Implementing ecosystem management in public agencies: Lessons from the U.S., Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.Conserv. Biol.2008,22, 60–69. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
49. Besnet, K.; Likens, G.E.; Scatena, F.N.; Lugo, A.E. Hurricane Hugo: Damage to a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico.J. Trop. Ecol.1992,8, 47–55. [CrossRef]
50. Lugo, A.E.; Lopez, delM, T.; Ramos, O.M.Zonificación de Terrenos en la Periferia de El Yunque; GTR-IITF-16;
USDA Forest Service, IITF: Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 2000; p. 20.
51. Ramos Gonzalez, O.M. Assessing vegetation and land cover changes in Northeastern Puerto Rico: 1978–1995.
Caribb. J. Sci.2001,37, 95–106.
52. Lugo, A.E.; Lopez delM, T.; Ramos Gonzalez, O.M.; Velez, I.I.Urbanización de los Terrenos en la Periferia de El Yunque; GTR-WO-66; USDA Forest Service: Washington, DC, USA, 2004; p. 29.
53. USDA Forest Service.Revised Land Use and Resource Management Plan: Caribbean National Forest—Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico; Management Bulletin R8-MB 80G; Caribbean National Forest: Palmer, Puerto Rico, 1997.
54. USDA Forest Service. Web. Planning Rule. Available online: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/
planningrule/(accessed on 19 July 2017).
55. Lugo, A. Management of tropical biodiversity.Ecol. Appl.1995,5, 956–961. [CrossRef]
56. Holling, C.S. Resilience and stability of ecological systems.Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst.1973,4, 1–23. [CrossRef]
57. North, D.Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1990; p. 152.
58. Innes, J.L.; Joyce, L.A.; Kellomaki, S.; Louman, B.; Ogden, A.; Parrotta, J.; Thompson, I. Management for adaptation. InAdaptation of Forests and People to Climate Change; Seppälä, R., Buck, A., Katila, P., Eds.;
IUFRO World Series; International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO): Vienna, Austria, 2009;
Volume 22, pp. 135–169.
59. Lawrence, A. Adapting through practice: Silviculture, innovation and forest governance for the age of extreme uncertainty.For. Policy Econnom.2017,79, 50–60. [CrossRef]
60. Larson, A.J.; Belote, R.T.; Williamson, M.A.; Aplet, G.H. Making monitoring count: Project design for active adaptive management.J. For.2013,111, 348–356. [CrossRef]
61. Verburg, P.H.; Dearing, J.A.; Dyke, J.G.; van der Leeuw, S.; Seitzinger, S.; Steffen, W.; Syvitski, J. Methods and approaches to modelling the Anthropocene.Glob. Environ. Chang.2016,39, 328–340. [CrossRef]
© 2017 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).