INTRODUCTION - DISTURBANCE AND CARIBBEAN ECOSYSTEMS

The fifteen articles in this special issue describe long-term (greater than or equal to 5 years) responses or perspectives on disturbance in Caribbean ecosystems. Most (11) of the articles describe the response s of Caribbean forests to hurricane disturbance, particularly the effe cts of Hurricane Hugo on wet forest in the Luquillo Experimental Fores t (LEF), Puerto Rico. Ten articles discuss, alone or in addition to hu rricanes, the effects of other types of disturbance including that due to humans, treefalls, drought, and landslides. In this introductory a rticle we summarize the post-hurricane trajectories of various ecosyst em components in the LEE We also address how responses to other types of disturbance can be brought together to obtain a more thorough under standing of the comparative responses of Caribbean ecosystems to diffe rent disturbances. Finally we identify those areas of disturbance ecol ogy in the Caribbean that require further investigation.