We seek to understand the dynamics and evolution of plant populations and vegetation communities through the understanding of ecological processes related plant-pollinator interactions, plant-herbivore interactions, plant responses to climatic variability and life history trade-offs. In recent years, several projects have focused on understanding the vulnerability of threatened or endangered species.
A focus of the lab has been on the understanding of the social and ecological drivers of green infrastructure variation in urban systems to evaluate how this variation relates to the provision of ecosystem services by green spaces and the role that green areas play in urban sustainability, resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change and the improvement of urban environments. In support of these activities the lab collaborates with a number of networks and organizations (San Juan ULTRA,NATURA, Alianza por El Rio Piedras,Fundación Amigos De El Yunque,Resilience Centers of Excellence - Puerto Rico, INESI, RISE Network).
The lab is committed to student research training at the graduate and undergraduate level. Through the years it has contributed to the implementation of training activities to build local capacity in skills related to vegetation monitoring though various federally funded programs (eg. USDA-NIFA).
