Urbanization is the dominant trend in land-transformation worldwide, playing a critical role as a key driver of ecosystems changes at all scales. Understanding the patterns and processes of ecological systems in an urbanized planet is crucial to preserving the integrity of natural resources and ecosystem services on which humanity depends. Special attention is required in regions where the most dramatic transformations associated with the urbanization process are expected to occur in the future. Projections show that tropical cities will lead future urban growth, which probably will have important impacts in global climate change. In order to integrate patterns from microclimatic and land cover in a more comprehensive view, my study evaluates: 1) What are the changes in temperature and relative humidity between green areas from different land-uses distributed in an urbanized landscape? 2) How microclimate conditions change along an urban gradient? Finally, I discuss the relationship between microclimate conditions and the habitat structure in land-covers distributed in an urban landscape. I selected 30 study sites distributed in suburban and urban areas representing five (5) land covers (mature forest, young forest, shrubland, pasture, and yard) in the northeast of Puerto Rico.
Results/Conclusions
I found differences in microclimate conditions between green areas distributed in an urbanized landscape in the northeast lowland of Puerto Rico. In general, temperature tend to increase, while relative humidity tend to decrease with decreasing of woody cover associated with higher level of human modification in the study site. More modified sites showed higher variability in microclimate conditions compared with more vegetated sites. I also documented the urban heat island phenomenon (UHI) in the Metropolitan area of San Juan. Predictions about future urban development and temperatures around the island suggest that if the present pattern of development continues, wide areas of land in the island will be impacted by global climate change. Vegetation cover is proposed as an important resource to mitigate the effects of global climate in the future. My result provides new knowledge that contributes to better understand environmental dynamics in a tropical island urbanized landscape and to improve overall decision-making for environmental planning and rehabilitation in urban areas in the future.