Transcript El Yunque - TeacherTube

El Yunque National Forest
Puerto Rico
By: Courtney Simonsen
El Yunque
• Some say that the name Yunque is derived
from the word “Yuke,” from the Taíno Indians
of Puerto Rico, meaning white land, referring
to the land covered by clouds most of the
time.
• Others say that El Yunque is Spanish for
anvil. The old residents of Puerto Rico
believe that El Yunque (the mountain) serves
as a shield or an anvil, and storms coming to
Puerto Rico crash against it losing much of
their energy there and then the rest of the
Island gets less damaged.
Geography
• El Yunque National Forest is designated in Sierra
de Luquillo, southeast of San Juan
• El Yunque is divided into four forest: Tabonuco
Forest, Palo Colorado Forest, Palma Sierra Forest
and En Las Nubes Forest.
• El Yunque is the National Forest despite being
located only in Puerto Rico.
Climate
• El Yunque has up to 240 inches of rain
annually, adding up to over 100 billion
gallons of rainfall per year. Most of the water
creates the streams, ponds and waterfalls
that are in the rainforest.
• The climate is frost-free and ranges from
semi-desert to rain forest conditions within
short distances.
• There are strong trade-winds and cool
weather at higher elevations.
Waterfalls of El Yunque
• El Yunque is known
for it’s many
waterfalls. The
constant rain provides
the forest trickling
water creating the
beautiful waterfalls of
El Yunque.
• Most tourists favor La
Coca falls. La Coca
falls cannot be found
using the marked
trails of the forest but
by trail hiking.
Tourist Attractions
• El Yunque is often flooded with tourists
from around the world.
• Some activities the tourists can
participate in are hiking, horse back
riding, picnicking, rock climbing,
camping, and just enjoying the beauty
of the rainforest.
Wild Life
• There are over 240 species of trees and
plants found in El Yunque in which 26
kinds are found nowhere else in the
world
• Some rare wildlife that are located in El
Yunque is the Puerto Rican parrot which
is in the top ten of the most endangered
birds. The birds and all the wildlife that
are living in the rainforest are protected
thanks to the no hunting law.
• Because of the forming of Puerto Rico by
volcanic activity there are no animals on
the Island bigger than the rats, bats, and
mongoose. This is because all the
animals on the Island had to swim, float,
or fly in order to get to the Island.
• Although there are many animals located
in the Yunque rainforest none of them are
poisonous.
Amazona Vittata
• The Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona Vittata is the only native
parrot on the Island. When Christopher Columbus arrived in
Puerto Rico on his second voyage of exploration in 1493, these
birds were a common sight throughout the Island. This parrot is
a forest bird which requires large hollow tree trunks for nesting.
As trees were cut-down by the original settlers to make way for
farms, the parrots gradually retreated into the remaining
patches of forest. Only in the protected El Yunque National
Forest could the parrots still find the large trees that they
needed for nesting. Until laws were enforced that stopped
parrot hunting in the forest the parrot population decreased
substantially. In 1968 the Puerto Rican Parrot was placed on the
Federal Endangered Species List. The present population in the
wild numbers less than 50 individual birds.
Legend of the Chupacabra
• The legend of the Chupacabra began in about 1987 when
papers in Puerto Rico began to report killings of mostly
livestock animals. Chupacabra means goat sucker and so the
name was invented.
• Legend has it that there was a secret labatory in the mountains
of El Yunque were they did genetic experiments and the
chupacabra escaped.
• The killings created physical devastation as well as economical
for the Puerto Rican villagers whose animals were killed.
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History
In 1876, when the Island was still a Spanish colony, King Alfonso XII proclaimed the forest
a Crown Reserve to be regulated by the Inspección de Montes (Spanish Forest Service). It
became one of the earliest forest reserves known to exist in the Western Hemisphere.
1898 The United States ceded control of the Island of Puerto Rico at the Treaty of Paris.
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed former Crown reserve to be the
"Luquillo Forest Reserve" named after its location in the Luquillo Mountains. In 1907 it
began to be supervised by the newly organized (1905) US Forest Service. Through the
years the Luquillo National Forest grew larger and in 1935 the forest was renamed the
"Caribbean National Forest“.
At the request of President Franklin Roosevelt, Congress enacted the Federal Emergency
Conservation Program which spawned the Civilian Conservation Corpse (CCC). CCC
recruits from the Island began working on projects in the forest such as "Building a road
through the cliffs and jungles of the Luquillo Mountains".
In the 1940's, during the World War II, over a quarter of a million board feet of lumber from
the forest was sold and used. El Yunque, the second highest peak in the forest was used
by the US Army Signal Corps as look-outs.
The El Yunque National Forest was additionally designated the "Luquillo Experimental
Forest" in 1956 to recognize the growing importance of the scientific research that was
being conducted there.
In 1971 the discovered a new bird species which existed at high elevation in the forest. In
1989 Hurricane Hugo caused major damage to the Island of Puerto Rico, and El Yunque
National Forest facilities. As a result of the hurricane, the population of the Puerto Rican
Parrot drops to a low of 23 individuals in the wild.
Also in 1998 Hurricane Georges struck the Island causing massive devastation. During
this year the devastating Pink Mealy Bug was first discovered in the forest. The Puerto
Rican Department of Agriculture responds promptly with the introduction of a parasitic
wasp that virtually destroyed this voracious insect.
In 2003 the El Yunque National Forest celebrated its Centennial with year-long activities,
and the installation of a 60 foot long Centennial timeline display.
Work Cited
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http://luq.lternet.edu/images/luq/RoadsandPlots/PRNorthEastMap.gif
http://www.topuertorico.org/reference/yunque.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/local-resources/images/about/from_fajardo.gif
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/faq/index.shtml
http://www.itsnature.org/legendary-creatures/chupacabra/
http://www.surfrider.org/nec/images/animals.jpg
http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/PuertoRicanWoodpecker(RRM).jpg
http://www.elyunque.com/bills/jorangecrowned.jpg
http://www.photosofpuertorico.com/waterfalls/yunque_3.htm
http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/east-coast-el-yunque-national-forest-caribbeannational-forest-pr125.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/182/379222113_4dc14fbf67.jpg
http://www.bellewood-gardens.com/PR_El%20Yunque_Rain.jpg
http://k43.pbase.com/u19/neetu/upload/36351232.IMG_0333.jpg
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/about/history.shtml
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