Eye On The Rainforest

30/09/2026

El Yunque’s 150 anniversary celebration was at El Portal, Puerto Rico, where scientists, forest staff, educators and community partners gathered to honor the people behind its long history of conservation.

The day was dedicated to Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, whose guidance shaped our early work at Las Casas de la Selva. Frank believed Puerto Rico could grow beautiful hardwoods and build a wood industry if its forests were managed sustainably. He encouraged us as we began harvesting our trees in the early 2000s, and later took great pride in Puerto Rico Hardwoods’ recovery of valuable fallen timber after Hurricane María.

Frank, we salute you!

El Yunque’s 150th anniversary brought together the people, science and history behind one of Puerto Rico’s most treasured forests. The celebration honored Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, whose guidance helped inspire Las Casas de la Selva’s work in sustainable forestry & rainforest enrichment and the ...

29/09/2026

25/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1FZ7Fe6Gpq/

22/09/2026

If mechanical clocks weren’t everywhere, what other signs of the time might we look for? On sunless days, could we judge the hour by Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon pratensis) and other lively blooms with predictable daily movements?

Carl Linnaeus evidently thought so. In 1751, he published a list of more than forty of these plants with their timings for his region. He proposed that floral clocks ‘are to be worked out’ for any climate ‘so that anyone can make a calculation of the hour of the day without a clock or sunshine’. That thrilling notion inspired scientific experiment and extraordinary poetry – and continues to fascinate and resound in new ways today.

If mechanical clocks weren’t everywhere, what other signs of the ti...

22/09/2026

This lecture details the botanical, cultural, and political history of breadfruit’s world travels. Breadfruit’s first journey saw this crop dispersed by ancient Polynesians throughout Oceania, where it is now cultivated on nearly every inhabited island of the Pacific. The second journey resulted in breadfruit’s transplantation to the Caribbean by British colonialists to support their slavery-dependent plantations. Today, breadfruit’s third major journey is taking it worldwide as it is being simultaneously ‘discovered’ both as ‘superfood’ by people focused on plant-based nutrition and as a tool for sustainable development by organizations fighting climate change and world hunger.

Based upon five years of historical and field-based research, the lecture ties together themes of tropical horticulture, Indigenous knowledge, colonial food and economic systems, and contemporary efforts toward nutrition and sustainability.

This lecture details the botanical, cultural, and political history...

22/09/2026

It’s easy for some of us to take our confidence in natural spaces for granted; we’ll saunter through brambles, flip logs, poke and prod at things with rogue abandon. A hoverfly buzzing around us is no cause for concern, ants and bugs crawling in the grass next to us isn’t a bother – but that’s far from the case for everyone.

20/09/2026

'Vegetation Structure and Composition Across Select Ecological Succession Stages and Land Uses in Puerto Rico'
2026, General Technical Report

We are delighted to share this important new study of Puerto Rico’s vegetation, co-authored by Steve Maldonado-Silvestrini, a valued member of the Eye on the Rainforest Botanical Team; other authors are Johann D. Crespo-Zapata, & William A. Gould.

Between 2021 and 2023, researchers surveyed 99 sites across Puerto Rico, documenting an extraordinary 689 plant species—approximately 20% of the island’s known flora. Covering mature and restored forests, secondary forests, shrublands, grasslands and former agricultural areas, the report offers valuable information for conservation, responsible land management, climate resilience and recovery from extreme weather events.

Congratulations to Steve and the entire research team for this significant contribution to understanding and protecting Puerto Rico’s remarkable botanical heritage!

19/09/2026

Streams are important ecosystems that harbor a high diversity of plant species including bryophytes. Studies suggest streams can function as refugia and/or corridors that buffer against the effects of disturbances. In this study, we sampled five sites along a second-order tropical stream in the Luqu...

16/09/2026

🌳Amanda Brinton has been traveling around Puerto Rico, talking with and “connecting people who stand below trees” — which, technically, is all of us!

She has done a wonderful job with Edition 1, and we salute her. Bringing together so many different voices and making their stories accessible takes tremendous effort, but it matters: when we share what we know, we create the opportunity for all of us to learn from one another. Congratulations, Amanda — and thank you for helping connect Puerto Rico’s community of tree people! 🌳

The story of the salvaged mahogany trees currently at the Puerto Rico Hardwoods woodyard is the first story of this edition. Enjoy!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6eoAOy2ZRbfKYejgUIR5NtlPslGNiK_/view?usp=sharing

16/09/2026

Amanda Brinton ha estado recorriendo Puerto Rico, conversando y 'conectando a personas que se encuentran bajo los árboles', ¡lo cual, técnicamente, nos incluye a todos! 🌳

Ha realizado un trabajo maravilloso con esta primera edición y la felicitamos. Reunir tantas voces diversas y hacer accesibles sus historias requiere un esfuerzo enorme, pero es algo que vale la pena: al compartir lo que sabemos, creamos la oportunidad de aprender unos de otros.

¡Felicidades, Amanda, y gracias por ayudar a conectar a la comunidad de amantes de los árboles en Puerto Rico! 🌳

La historia de las caobas rescatadas que se encuentran actualmente en el depósito de madera de Puerto Rico Hardwoods es la primera de esta edición. ¡Que la disfruten!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6eoAOy2ZRbfKYejgUIR5NtlPslGNiK_/view?usp=sharing