The input of phosphorus (P) through mineral aerosol dust deposition may be an important component of nutrient dynamics in tropical forest ecosystems. A new dust deposition calculation is used to construct a broad analysis of the importance of dust-derived P to the P budget of a montane wet tropical forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. The dust deposition calculation used here takes advantage of an internal geochemical signal (Sr isotope mass balance) to provide a spatially integrated longer-term average dust deposition flux. Dust inputs of P (0.23 ± 0.08 kg ha-1 year-1) are compared with watershed-average inputs of P to the soil through the conversion of underlying saprolite into soil (between 0.07 and 0.19 kg ha-1 year-1), and with watershed-average losses of soil P through leaching (between 0.02 and 0.14 kg ha-1 year-1) and erosion (between 0.04 and 1.38 kg ha-1 year-1). The similar magnitude of dust-derived P inputs to that of other fluxes indicates that dust is an important component of the soil and biomass P budget in this ecosystem. Dust-derived inputs of P alone are capable of completely replacing the total soil and biomass P pool on a timescale of between 2.8 ka and 7.0 ka, less than both the average soil residence time (*15 ka) and the average landslide recurrence interval (*10 ka).

Soils and forest floor were sampled quantitatively from a montane wet tropical forest in Puerto Rico to determine the spatial variability of soil nutrients, the factors controlling nutrient availability to vegetation, and the distribution of nutrients in soil and plants. Exchangeable cation concentrations were measured using different soil extracting procedures (fresh soil with NH4C1, air-dried and ground soil with KC1, and a Modified Olsen solution) to establish a range of nutrient availability in the soil, and to determine the relationship between different, but commonly used laboratory protocols. The availability of exchangeable Ca, Mg, and K was significantly lower in soils extracted fresh with NHaCI than from soils which were dried and ground prior to extraction with KCI or a modified Olsen solution. Soil nutrient availability generally decreased with depth in the soil. Several soil properties important to plant growth and survival varied predictably across the landscape and could be viewed in the context of a simple catena model. In the surface soils, exchangeable base cation concentrations and pH increased along a gradient from ridge tops to riparian valleys, while soil organic matter, exchangeable Fe and acidity decreased along this gradient. On the ridges, N, P, and K were positively correlated with soil organic matter; on slopes, N and P were positively correlated with organic matter, and Ca, Kg, and pH were negatively correlated with exchangeable Fe. Nutrient availability in the upper catena appears to be primarily controlled by biotic processes, particularly the accumulation of organic matter. The Ca, K, and P content of the vegetation was higher on ridges and slopes than in the valley positions. Periodic flooding and impeded drainage in the lower catena resulted in a more heterogeneous environment. A comparison of the Bisley, Puerto Rico soils with other tropical montane forests (TMF) revealed that the internal heterogeneity of soils in the Bisley Watersheds is similar to the range of average soil nutrient concentrations among TMF's for Ca, Mg, and K (dry/ground soils). Phosphorus tended to be slightly higher in Bisley and N was lower than in other TMFs.

On 18 September 1989 Hurricane Hugo defoliated large forested areas of northeastern Puerto Rico. In two severely damaged subtropical wet forest sites, a mean of 1006-1083 g/m$^2$, or 419-451 times the mean daily input of fine litter (leaves, small wood, and miscellaneous debris) was deposited on the forest floor. An additional 928 g/m$^2$ of litter was suspended above the ground. A lower montane rain forest site received 682 times the mean daily fine litterfall. The concentrations of N and P in the hurricane leaf litter ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 and 1.7 to 3.3 times the concentrations of N and P in normal leaffall, respectively. In subtropical wet forest, fine litterfall from the hurricane contained 1.3 and 1.5-2.4 times the mean annual litterfall inputs of N and P, respectively. These sudden high nutrient inputs apparently altered nutrient cycling.

Nitrogen budgets of late successional forested stands and watersheds provide baseline data against which the effects of small- and large-scale disturbances may be measured. Using previously published data and supplemental new data on gaseous N loss, we construct a N budget for hillslope tabonuco forest (HTF) stands in Puerto Rico. HTF stands are subject to frequent hurricanes and landslides; here, we focus on N fluxes in the late phase of inter-disturbance forest development. N inputs from atmospheric deposition (4-6 kg N/ha/yr) are exceeded by N outputs from groundwater, gaseous N loss, and particulate N loss (6.3-15.7 kg N/ha/yr). Late-successional HTF stands also sequester N in their aggrading biomass (8 kg N/ha/yr), creating a total budget imbalance of 8.3-19.7 kg N/ha/yr. We surmise that this imbalance may be accounted for by unmeasured inputs from above- and belowground N-fixation and/or slow depletion of the large N pool in soil organic matter. Spatial and temporal variability, especially that associated with gaseous exchange and soil organic matter N-mineralization, constrain the reliability of this N budget.