This chapter focuses on the ecological response mechanisms of the Luquillo Mountains tonatural and human-induced disturbances, such as hurricanes and land cover change. It identifies the ecosystems of the Luquillo Mountains as a perfect representation of large masses of a non-frost tropical land because of its naturally occurring features: high rainfall, hurricane disturbances, maritime climate, and insularity. It then sets out the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program as a by-product of the 20th and 21st century experimentations, and discusses its contributions to the basic understanding of the ecological make-up and biogeochemistry of the Luquillo Mountains.

This chapter describes the geologic, geographic, and ecological context of the location of Luquillo Mountains, particularly the factors affecting the response mechanisms of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to disturbance. It describes the existing conditions of the physical environment, chemical environment, and the biota of the Luquillo Mountains as they respond to disturbances. It then merges the decade-long research about the Mountains with the other tropical ecosystems around the globe.

This chapter describes the responses of the organisms, communities, and ecosystems to the variety of disturbances by utilizing the conceptual model discussed in Chapter 2. It also dwells on the concepts of residuals, legacies, and ecological space in the understanding of disturbances such as background treefalls, hurricanes, floods, drought, landslides, and other human-induced disturbances. Finally, it outlines the variations caused by disturbances and the interactions among these disturbances.