The impacts of Hurricane Wilma on the epiphytes of El Eden Ecological Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Small and large-scale perturbations can have important impacts on a wide range of biota. Hurricanes are a dominant perturbation in tropical ecosystems. A 1500 ha seasonally dry tropical forest reserve in Quintana Roo, Mexico, was analyzed for epiphyte composition across different seral stages and forest types, including mature forest, tintal wetland area, and secondary vegetation. One-kilometer belt transects (6000 m(2)) were sampled in each forest type before and after Hurricane Wilma. The surveys revealed twenty three species of vascular epiphytes, primarily from the Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae families. Immediately following Wilma, fewer than half of previously recorded individuals were observed, while overall species composition differed little. The wetland area sustained losses of 64%, and the Mature forest lost 28% of epiphyte individuals. However, the epiphyte communities in the wetland area contained greater than 50% of all observed individuals both before and after the hurricane, thus representing the largest new Source pool. Under a changing climate regime of increasing hurricanes, vascular epiphytes of the Yucatan Peninsula may suffer disproportionate losses compared with understory plants. Ultimately, epiphytes must be studied within the framework of community ecology in order to understand the severity of these losses.