Establishment of a wildlife corridor - The north tract of Sabana Seca
Navy base has a large area of wetland forest and the south tract has forest
habitat in the karst "mogotes". Both areas are important habitats
for migrant birds and Federally listed animal and plant species. The goal of
this project was to create a corridor (10 x 3000 m) by planting wetland tree
species along a canal and road that cross the north tract. In addition to
facilitating animal movement through agricultural lands, the corridor will
provide greater forest habitat, erosion and fire control, and a wind break for
pasture lands.
Karst valley restoration - The major goal of this project was to
restore native vegetation to a mogote valley within the Sabana Seca Navy base
to provide potential habitat for the boa population. This area has
one of the highest densities of the endangered Puerto Rican Boa. The valley
that was selected is approximately 160 m long and, on average, 20 m wide
(total area 3200 m2). For many years, the valley was dominated by
grasses and was cut with lawn mowers on a regular basis. During the last 12
months, mowing has been discontinued, but the valley has been grazed by
horses. This has lead to the establishment of many shrub species.
These shrub rarely grow greater than 1.5 m in height and have helped to shade
out the grasses. Rather than clear the shrubs which could allow the recover of
the grasses and the spread of vines, we decided to plant the woody tree
species below the shrubs. In the valley we planted a total of 516 individuals
of 22 species from 18 families.
Herpetological survey -
The major goal of this project is to describe the abundance and distribution
of the herpetofauna in the major habitats within the Navy Security Group
Activity at Sabana Seca (NSGASS). This information will document the present
status of the herpetofauna and provide a point of reference to determine how
environmental changes (e.g. global climate change, habitat loss and the
introduction of exotic species) are affecting these species. A previous study
at NSGASS documented the presence of Rana grilio, an introduced species
that had not been previously reported in Puerto Rico. A second aspect of this
project will be a detailed study of the distribution and abundance of this
species. In addition, we will try to determine the impact of Rana grilio
on native species that share the same habitat. Although the area of the NSGASS
is relatively small there is a high diversity of habitats within the base. The
most important habitats include: the karst hills and valleys, the herbaceous
wetlands, the Pterocarpus wetland forest, mangroves, and areas of open
water (e.g. rivers, canals, lagoons). Each of these habitats are expected to
have a very different community of amphibians and reptiles, which could result
in a remarkably high diversity of species within the base.
Other