Editing Geography of Puerto Rico (section)

===Forests===
{{Main articles|El Yunque National Forest|List of Puerto Rico state forests}}
Forests of Puerto Rico are well represented by the flora of the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), a [[Long Term Ecological Research Network]] site managed by the [[United States Forest Service]] and [[University of Puerto Rico]]. At this site, there are four main life zones, delineated on the basis of temperature and precipitation (Holdridge System), in the [[Sierra de Luquillo]]: subtropical wet and subtropical rain forests are found at low and mid elevations, lower montane rain and lower montane wet forests at high elevations. There is also an area of subtropical moist forest at low elevations on the southwest slope.

Tabonuco forest, so named for the dominant tabonuco tree (''[[Dacryodes excelsa]]''), covers lower slopes to about {{convert|2000|ft|m|abbr=on}}. In well-developed stands the larger trees exceed {{convert|98|ft|m|abbr=on}} in height, there is a fairly continuous [[Canopy (biology)|canopy]] at {{convert|66|ft|m|abbr=on}}, and the shaded [[understory]] is moderately dense. Tabonuco trees are especially large on ridges, where they are firmly rooted in the rocky substrate and connected by root grafts with each other. There are about 168 tree species in the tabonuco forest.

The palo Colorado forest, named for the large ''palo colorado'' tree (''[[Cyrilla]] racemiflora''), begins above the tabonuco forest and extends up to about {{convert|3000|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Its canopy reaches only about {{convert|49|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Soils are saturated and root mats above the soil are common. There are some 53 tree species in this forest type. At this same elevation, but in especially steep and wet areas, is palm forest, heavily dominated by the sierra palm tree (''[[Prestoea montana]]''). Patches of palm forest are also found in saturated [[Riparian zone|riparian areas]] in the tabonuco forest. The palm forest reaches about 15 m in height.

At the highest elevations is [[Elfin forest|dwarf forest]], a dense forest as short as {{convert|9.8|ft|m|abbr=on}}, on saturated soils. Here the trees are covered with [[Epiphyte|epiphytic]] [[moss]]es and vascular plants, especially [[bromeliad]]s, and these also cover large areas of the ground. Ascending the Luquillo mountains through these forest types, the average tree height and diameter, number of tree species, and basal area (cross sectional area of tree stems) tend to decrease, while stem density increases.

There are more than 89 tree species in the LEF. The most common are ''Prestoea acuminata'', ''[[Casearia arborea]]'', ''Dacryodes excelsa'', ''[[Manilkara bidentata]]'', ''[[Inga laurina]]'', and ''[[Sloanea berteroana]]''. Common shrub species are ''[[Palicourea croceoides]]'', ''[[Psychotria berteriana]]'', and ''[[Piper glabrescens]]''. Grasses, [[fern]]s, and [[forb]]s are frequent on the ground, especially in canopy gaps; epiphytes are fairly common, and vines are uncommon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lternet.edu/sites/luq/fulldescription.php?site=LUQ |title=Luquillo LTER – LUQ Description |publisher=Long Term Ecological Research Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527174310/http://www.lternet.edu/sites/luq/fulldescription.php?site=LUQ |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Puerto Rican dry forests]] are dominated by plants in the families [[Rubiaceae]], [[Euphorbiaceae]], and [[Myrtaceae]]. In this regard they are similar to [[Jamaican dry forests]], but differ sharply from dry forests on the mainland of [[South America|South]] and Central America, which are dominated by [[Fabaceae]] and [[Bignoniaceae]].<ref>Gentry, A.H. (1995) Diversity and floristic composition of neotropical dry forests. pp.&nbsp;146–194 in S.H. Bullock, H.A. Mooney and E. Medina (editors) Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.</ref>

Mario Javier Fernandez-Vega is a Puerto Rican forester who uses [[Silviculture|silvicultural]] techniques. Fernandez is currently developing cutting edge forestry methods known as the "Borincano Model". The model capitalizes on the diversity of ecological niches in Puerto Rican forests and native disturbance regimes to formulate practices uniquely suited to the forests of the archipelago. About his model Fernandez has been known to comment, "''Soy de aquí como el coquí''" (I am from here just like the coqui), a common patriotic axiom that is used to demonstrate their native ties to the island. The [[Coquí|coqui]] and its unique vocalizations are indigenous to the island of Puerto Rico. However, there are thriving populations of coquis that, like the people of Puerto Rico, have been transported to [[Hawaii]]. The coqui is viewed as an ecological menace in Hawaii where its song of ''co kee co kee'' is found to be an irritant by many. Needless to say that efforts to eradicate its presence in Hawaii is not a popular issue among Puerto Ricans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-coqui-frog-hawaii-20141228-story.html|title=Tiny coqui frog becomes a big problem in Hawaii|first=Los Angeles|last=Times|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 28, 2014 }}</ref>