Current Projects
Coral Reef Ecology
Coral Reef Ecology
Coral Reef Ecology
Coral reefs are among the most important ecosystems on Earth. They are a source of income and food for millions of people, protect coastal areas from wave action, serve as an essential reproduction area for commercial and non-commercial species, and are valuable resources for tourism and education. However, anthropogenic activities (e.g., water pollution), biological factors (e.g., diseases), and physical disturbances (e.g., elevated seawater temperature) have negatively impacted the structural and ecological integrity of approximately 60% of coral reefs. It is expected that by 2030, the health of 90% of coral reefs worldwide would be severely compromised. My research aims to contribute to the conservation and restoration of these essential ecosystems.
Principal Investigators: Alex Mercado Molina, PhD; Fabiola Rivera Irizarry, MS
Lichen Ecology
Coral Reef Ecology
Coral Reef Ecology
In diverse ecosystems spanning arid landscapes to tropical rainforests, lichens play a crucial role as environmental protectors and integral components of ecological systems. As bioindicators, they adeptly assess pollution in both urban and rural areas, contributing significantly to erosion mitigation, rock disintegration, and the maintenance of intricate food webs. Despite their ecological significance, there remains a need to enhance our comprehensive understanding of lichens, particularly in tropical wetlands. The study area, a mangrove forest in Puerto Rico, is systematically segmented based on geological features, and monthly data collection involves meticulous direct observation and photographic analysis. Employing quantitative analysis, the research seeks to explore lichen species diversity and identify potential correlations with ecosystem conditions.
Lead Investigator: Valentina Pérez García
Principal Investigator: Alex Mercado Molina, PhD
Wetland Insects Population Dynamics
Wetland Insects Population Dynamics
Wetland Insects Population Dynamics
Our current research mainly focuses on studying the anthropogenic-induced temperature changes in the Puerto Rico wetlands and their effect on the arthropods' population dynamics. Our laboratory uses biodiversity surveys as well as statistical population models to determine the direct influence of thermal water contamination and salt intrusion on the population of wetland insects. This could help develop new and more precise management and conservation plans for wetland systems, considering the current anthropogenic influence in water temperature fluctuations and its effect on wetland arthropod diversity and abundance.
Lead Investigator: Roberto E. Martínez Rivera, MS
Principal Investigator: Alex Mercado Molina, PhD
Wetland Ecology
Wetland Insects Population Dynamics
Wetland Insects Population Dynamics
We live in a constantly changing environment exacerbated by rapid industrial development and careless human exploitation of natural resources. These activities, although generalized, have taken a tremendous toll on the environmental systematics of our planet, principally characterized by temperature rises and, consequentially, weather pattern alterations. The latter is a significant problem since it can represent water scarcity in sections of the world where this situation was unheard of. In Caribbean environments, water scarcity can result from many conditions, including freshwater salinization, which can be generated by the loss of buffer zones like wetlands between the sea and coastal freshwater reservoirs. Based on this, our proposed study explores how salinity concentration flows through a wetland environment, specifically a coastal mangrove forest, and how its concentration changes spatiotemporally in a one-year timeframe. Additionally, we aim to describe how salt levels in these systems affect or correlate with other water physicochemical parameters and, consequentially, its biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics.
Lead Investigators: Kathina Salcedo Saez; Arnold Vargas Principe
Principal Investigator: Alex Mercado Molina, PhD
Past projects
Cacti Ecology
Freshwater Bioacoustics
Freshwater Bioacoustics
The archipelago of Puerto Rico has proven to be a natural treasure by having diverse ecosystems and high nativism in biodiversity. The first thing that most foreigners see is the greenery and beautiful landscapes. All of this is being destroyed due to uncontrolled and unplanned urban development. The deforestation caused by this action is causing habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss of native biodiversity quickly. Lack of information, like empirical data, on endemic and native species leaves them vulnerable to destruction. My research project focuses on studying the demography, phenology, and dispersion of the critically endangered Leptocereus grantianus cacti, which is endemic to the island municipality of Culebra. Recollecting and analyzing this data will contribute to better understating this species' ecology and biology. With this information, our team, in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, developed a conservation and management plan to protect this species from extinction.
Lead Investigator: Luis Fernández Negrón, MS
Freshwater Bioacoustics
Freshwater Bioacoustics
Freshwater Bioacoustics
Since the dawn of civilization, humans have used rivers and streams as central pieces for development. Their activities have profoundly impacted the natural dynamics of those systems, significantly affecting their biodiversity across time. Moreover, an argument can be made that this impact has increased exponentially in the last half-century, creating a constant void for the innovation of better and more efficient conservation and monitoring tools. This void has been filled by conventional visual assessments and capture and release procedures for years, but these surveying methods are highly invasive, adversely impacting ecosystem stability and habitat integrity. This raises the need for new and better non-invasive procedures for biodiversity assessments. Intending to fulfill this necessity, ecoacoustics has emerged as an efficient tool for describing environments in an array of valuable factors like ecological diversity, abundance, and biomass with the use of its distinctive soundscapes, which are defined as all the biological (biophony), anthropogenic (anthropophony), and geophysical (geophony) sounds that are acoustically produced in an ecosystem. A well-described soundscape proportionates useful biological information about environmental biodiversity using sound signals to indicate abundance and behavioral patterns.
Lead Investigator: Roberto E. Martínez Rivera, MS
Marine Bioacoustics
Freshwater Bioacoustics
Marine Bioacoustics
Our research centers on using coral reef soundscape recordings as a tool to understand these ecosystems' biological processes. Recordings are analyzed using previously demonstrated acoustic measurement indices and visual wildlife surveys to assess the reef's health and biodiversity. Using the reef's ambient sounds, we will determine the ecosystem health status throughout the Culebra coral reef systems. This information will be used to develop better management, restoration, and conservation plans. This project is a collaboration between NFWF and Sociedad Ambiente Marino (SAM).
Lead Investigator: Jeremy Velázquez Alvarado, MS