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Mintz seeks to conjoin his knowledge of the history of Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. 50 years later, the eminent scholar of the Caribbean returns to those experiences to meditate on the societies and on the island people who befriended him.

This book explains how the People of Puerto Rico managed to adopt a constitution whose content and process were both original and colonialist, participatory and undemocratic, as well as progressive and anticlimactic.

No detailed description available for \"America's Colony\".

The long‐term fate of populations experiencing disequilibrium conditions with their environment will ultimately depend on how local colonization and extinction dynamics respond to abiotic conditions (e.g. temperature and rainfall), dispersal limitation and biotic interactions (e.g. competition, facilitation or interactions with natural enemies). Understanding how these factors influence distributional dynamics under climate change is a major knowledge gap, particularly for small ranged and dispersal‐limited plant species, which are at higher risk of extinction. Epiphytes are hypothesized to be particularly vulnerable to climate change and we know little about what drives their distribution and how they will respond to climate change. To address this issue, we leveraged a 10‐year dataset on the occupancy dynamics of the endemic orchid Lepanthes rupestris to identify the drivers of local colonization and extinction dynamics and assess the long‐term fate of this population under multiple climate change scenarios. We compared 290 dynamic occupancy models in their ability to predict the colonization and extinction dynamics of a L. rupestris metapopulation. The model set predicted colonization–extinction dynamics as a function of asymmetric patch connectivity, moss area, elevation, temperature (minimum, maximum and variability) and/or rainfall. The best model predicted that local colonization increases with increasing asymmetric patch connectivity but decreases as minimum temperature and maximum temperature variability increase. The best model also predicted that local extinction increases with increasing variability in maximum temperature. Negative effects were more severe in smaller patches. Synthesis. Overall, our results demonstrate the role of asymmetric connectivity, climate and interactions with moss area as drivers of colonization and extinction dynamics. Moreover, our results suggest that asymmetrically dispersed epiphytes may struggle to persist under climate change because their limited connectivity may not be enough to counterbalance the negative effects of increasing mean or variability in temperature. RESUMEN El destino a largo plazo de las poblaciones que experimentan condiciones de desequilibrio con su ambiente depende de cómo los procesos de colonización y extinción local responden a cambios en factores abióticos (e.g. temperatura y precipitación), limitaciones en la capacidad de dispersión e interacciones biológicas (e.g. competencia, facilitación o interacciones con enemigos naturales). Sabemos muy poco sobre como estos factores influencian las dinámicas poblacionales, particularmente en especies de rango restringido y dispersión limitada como las epífitas. Se hipotetiza que este grupo de plantas es particularmente vulnerable al cambio climático. En este estudio, analizamos 10 años de datos sobre la dinámica de ocupancia de la orquídea Lepanthes rupestris endémica a Puerto Rico para identificar los factores que más influencian su dinámica de colonización y extinción local y predecir cuál será su estatus poblacional bajo diferentes escenarios de cambio climático. En este estudio, comparamos 290 modelos de ocupancia dinámicos basándonos en su habilidad para predecir las dinámicas de colonización y extinción de L. rupestris. Estos modelos buscan predecir la dinámica de colonización y extinción como función de conectividad asimétrica, área de musgo, elevación, temperatura (mínima, máxima y variabilidad), y/o lluvia. El modelo más parsimonioso predice que la probabilidad de colonización local aumenta con un aumento en conectividad asimétrica, pero disminuye con un aumento en la temperatura mínima o con un aumento en la variabilidad en la temperatura máxima. Este modelo además predice que la extinción local aumenta con un aumento en la variabilidad en temperatura máxima. Estos efectos negativos fueron más severos en los parches más pequeños. Síntesis. Nuestros resultados demuestran un rol importante de la conectividad asimétrica, clima y las interacciones con el musgo como factores influyentes en la dinámica de colonización y extinción de esta especie. Esto sugiere que epífitas que se dispersen asimétricamente pueden tener problemas a la hora de enfrentar al cambio climática porque su nivel de conectividad limitada no va a ser suficiente para balancear los efectos negativos de aumentos en temperatura. Overall, our results demonstrate the role of asymmetric connectivity, climate and interactions with moss area as drivers of colonization and extinction dynamics. Moreover, our results suggest that asymmetrically dispersed epiphytes may struggle to persist under climate change because their limited connectivity may not be enough to counterbalance the negative effects of increasing mean or variability in temperature.

QUESTION: Understanding how the relative importance of different community assembly processes changes during secondary succession of diverse systems remains elusive. Functional and phylogenetic approaches that place species along continuous axes of niche differentiation and evolutionary relatedness, however, are deepening our understanding of the mechanisms that drive successional dynamics. We ask whether successional shifts in the functional and phylogenetic composition of post‐agricultural tropical forests provide evidence for niche partitioning or competitive dominance hierarchies as drivers of successional change. LOCATION: Subtropical wet forests, Puerto Rico. METHODS: We combined data on four functional traits [leaf dry mass per area (LMA), wood density (WD), maximum height (Hₘₐₓ), seed dry mass] and a well‐resolved molecular phylogeny to characterize taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic composition of sapling and adult tree communities along a regionally replicated chronosequence. We used a null model approach to assess how functional and phylogenetic diversity change with forest age. RESULTS: Corresponding increases of community‐weighted mean LMA, Hₘₐₓ and seed mass with forest age reflected a shift in dominance of species with acquisitive resource‐use strategies and small seeds towards species with more conservative resource use and larger seeds. A negative relationship between forest age and local diversity of Hₘₐₓ and seed mass suggested increased importance of competitive hierarchies for light capture and shade‐tolerant regeneration in older forests. In contrast, the colonization of palms in older forest plots led to a positive relationship between forest age and local phylogenetic diversity, suggesting functional convergence of distantly related lineages on traits that confer competitive dominance under low resource conditions. CONCLUSIONS: We linked both functional and phylogenetic dimensions of community diversity with successional trajectories of post‐agricultural tropical forests. Contrasting patterns of these dimensions of diversity shed light on the underlying community assembly processes. We argue that integrating traits and phylogeny with specific hypotheses about physiological and historical mechanisms is essential for advancing our understanding of the drivers of community change during succession.

Coral reefs are subject to numerous physical disturbances, and post-disturbance coral recovery potential depends on subsequent re-colonization of impacted habitat. We examined divergent recovery trajectories at 2 proximal reefs disturbed by ship groundings that resulted in clearly delineated areas of altered substrate. Post-disturbance measurements of coral recruitment, survival, and changes in community structure were made approximately annually from 2009–2013 in undisturbed reference areas as well as disturbed pavement and rubble areas. Despite similar initial physical disturbances, there were marked differences between sites, with higher coral recruitment and survival on disturbed pavement than rubble bottom, reference reef, or restoration structures. Subsequent episodic disturbances from rubble mobilization could be a mechanism driving the divergent recovery patterns. To estimate whether local hydrodynamic conditions were sufficient to mobilize rubble, we used a combination of long-term monitoring, hydrodynamic modeling, and rubble transport mechanics to hindcast the potential for substrate mobility. Long-term model simulations of hydrodynamic forcing at the study sites showed multiple events where bottom-orbital velocities exceeded thresholds required to mobilize rubble via sliding or overturning. Our analyses indicate that wave energy mobilizes rubble substrate multiple times annually and suggests a physical limitation on survival of coral recruits relative to those on pavement substrate. Continued mobilizations may establish a positive feedback loop in which continued rubble clast mobilizations cause additional mechanical erosion or breakage and a shift to smaller rubble sizes that would subsequently mobilize at a lower level of hydrodynamic forcing and thus become subject to more frequent and sustained disturbances. The combination of multiple hydrodynamic disturbances and unstable substrate limits coral recovery and thus contributes to prolonged habitat loss.

Highly aggressive Africanized honeybees (AHB) invaded Puerto Rico (PR) in 1994, displacing gentle European honeybees (EHB) in many locations. Gentle AHB (gAHB), unknown anywhere else in the world, subsequently evolved on the island within a few generations. Here we sequence whole genomes from gAHB and EHB populations, as well as a North American AHB population, a likely source of the founder AHB on PR. We show that gAHB retains high levels of genetic diversity after evolution of gentle behaviour, despite selection on standing variation. We observe multiple genomic loci with significant signatures of selection. Rapid evolution during colonization of novel habitats can generate major changes to characteristics such as morphological or colouration traits, usually controlled by one or more major genetic loci. Here we describe a soft selective sweep, acting at multiple loci across the genome, that occurred during, and may have mediated, the rapid evolution of a behavioural trait. Africanized honey bees (AHB) are notoriously aggressive, but in Puerto Rico they have a ‘gentle’ phenotype. Here, Avalos et al. show that there has been a soft selective sweep at several loci in the Puerto Rican AHB population and suggest a role in the rapid evolution of gentle behaviour.

Aim Many plants rely on interactions with frugivores for dispersal, suggesting that animal communities may affect plant occupancy and diversity. However, the contribution of these interaction‐led biotic variables on plant diversity is poorly understood, especially in archipelagic hotspots such as the Caribbean. In island ecosystems, biogeographic theories suggest that island configurations drive colonization‐extinction dynamics, while macroecology argues for the importance of climatic drivers of biodiversity. Within this context, we examine how frugivore‐driven biotic factors are associated with fruiting plant species richness in relation to abiotic (climatic and geologic) and island configuration characteristics. Location Caribbean archipelagos. Methods We compiled a review of the diversity and distributions of 6039 plants and 326 vertebrate frugivores across 105 islands within the Caribbean. We then identified characteristics related to plant‐frugivore interactions and assigned each species as having either abiotic (wind, water, etc.) or zoochoric (frugivory‐dependent) dispersal syndromes. We related plant richness and dispersal syndromes to the regional diversity and characteristics of frugivorous animals, abiotic environments and island configuration characteristics through stepwise multivariate regression with generalized linear models and model selection. Results We found that 44.6% of Caribbean plants are dispersed through frugivory (endozoochory). Frugivore‐related characteristics, namely accumulated body mass of island bird assemblages, were the best predictors of the diversity of seed dispersal syndromes. To a lesser degree, reptile richness and soil variety were also considered important predictors for zoochoric plant distribution, while island areas affected abiotically‐dispersed plants. Main conclusion We found that biotic characteristics of frugivore communities are important predictors of plant diversity in the Caribbean archipelagos. However, this may also be influenced by climate and colonization history. Given the importance of biotic metrics in explaining plant diversity, we suggest that fruit‐frugivore interactions are important components of island biogeography and that frugivorous communities should be accounted for plant biodiversity predictions and forecast models.

Species employ diverse strategies to cope with natural disturbance, but the importance of these strategies for maintaining tree species diversity in forests has been debated. Mechanisms that have the potential to promote tree species coexistence in the context of repeated disturbance include life history trade-offs in colonization and competitive ability or in species' ability to survive at low resource conditions and exploit the temporary resource-rich conditions often generated in the wake of disturbance (successional niche). Quantifying these trade-offs requires long-term forest monitoring and modeling. We developed a hierarchical Bayes model to investigate the strategies tree species employ to withstand and recover from hurricane disturbance and the life history trade-offs that may facilitate species coexistence in forests subject to repeated hurricane disturbance. Unlike previous approaches, our model accommodates temporal variation in process error and observations from multiple sources. We parameterized the model using growth and mortality data from four censuses of a 16-ha plot taken every five years (1990-2005), together with damage data collected after two hurricanes and annual seed production data (1992-2005). Species' susceptibilities to hurricane damage as reflected by changes in diameter growth and fecundity immediately following a storm were weak, highly variable, and unpredictable using traditional life history groupings. The lower crowding conditions (e.g., high light) generated in the wake of storms, however, led to greater gains in growth and fecundity for pioneer and secondary-forest species than for shade-tolerant species, in accordance with expectation of life history. We found moderate trade-offs between survival in high crowding conditions, a metric of competitive ability, and long-distance colonization. We also uncovered a strong trade-off between mean species fecundity in low crowding conditions, a metric of recovery potential, and competitive ability. Trade-offs in competitive and colonization ability, in addition to successional niche processes, are likely to contribute to species persistence in these hurricane-impacted forests. The strategies species employ to cope with hurricane damage depend on the degree to which species rely on sprouting, repair of adult damage, changes in demographic rates in response to enhanced resource availability after storms, or long-distance dispersal as recovery mechanisms.

Lignin is often the most difficult portion of plant biomass to degrade, with fungi generally thought to dominate during late stage decomposition. Lignin in feedstock plant material represents a barrier to more efficient plant biomass conversion and can also hinder enzymatic access to cellulose, which is critical for biofuels production. Tropical rain forest soils in Puerto Rico are characterized by frequent anoxic conditions and fluctuating redox, suggesting the presence of lignin-degrading organisms and mechanisms that are different from known fungal decomposers and oxygen-dependent enzyme activities. We explored microbial lignin-degraders by burying bio-traps containing lignin-amended and unamended biosep beads in the soil for 1, 4, 13 and 30 weeks. At each time point, phenol oxidase and peroxidase enzyme activity was found to be elevated in the lignin-amended versus the unamended beads, while cellulolytic enzyme activities were significantly depressed in lignin-amended beads. Quantitative PCR of bacterial communities showed more bacterial colonization in the lignin-amended compared to the unamended beads after one and four weeks, suggesting that the lignin supported increased bacterial abundance. The microbial community was analyzed by small subunit 16S ribosomal RNA genes using microarray (PhyloChip) and by high-throughput amplicon pyrosequencing based on universal primers targeting bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic communities. Community trends were significantly affected by time and the presence of lignin on the beads. Lignin-amended beads have higher relative abundances of representatives from the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria compared to unamended beads. This study suggests that in low and fluctuating redox soils, bacteria could play a role in anaerobic lignin decomposition.