Two separate watersheds had permanent plots established - one was located at El Verde adjacent to the Prieta Stream (350-430 m elevation) and the other at Bisley on the downhill side of the road on the gauged watershed # 3 (260-455 m elevation). Five p ermanent research plots were established in each of the three topographic positions (e.g., stream[e.g. pool], one in the riparian zone and one in the upland area) in each watershed. Hurricane Hugo hit the island of Puerto Rico on September 18, 1989 and se verly damaged the Bisley sites and moderately damaged the El Verde site (Scatena and Larsen 1991). Litterfall data was collected during the first and second years after Hurricane Hugo from the 30 permanent plots established at both El Verde and at Bisley. The fifth year of litterfall data was collected from the same topographic areas in both watersheds except the research plot was a control plot of a long-term wood addition experiment. In the riparian and upslope areas, 10 laundry baskets (1,440 cm2 in si ze) lined with fiberglass window screening were used to collect the litterfall within each topographic location - two collectors within each of the 5 permanent plots and 10 collectors in the control plot. Six stream collectors placed over pools were used at each site - each being 30,000 cm2 in size.
Data available at Luquillo Experimental Forest