2009
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August, 2009:
A 1-day workshop attended by 12 scientists led to a decision to warm 1 hectare of forest. -
December, 2009:
A 1-day workshop attended by 16 scientists led to the design of the infrared warming, the group also made the decision to change to a 20 meter diameter circle above canopy site. And our PIs Molly Cavaleri, Tana E. Wood, and Sasha C. Reed agreed to write a white paper and literature review on the topic of warming experiments.
2010
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September, 2010:
In Rio Piedras, PR a 3-day workshop was organized and attended by 10 scientists. At this meeting the site search began, and the three PIs shared their white paper and literature review with the rest of the group. Design and cost were also discussed.
2011
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Tana E. Wood, Sasha C. Reed, and Molly Cavaleri wrote a review paper and various other publications.
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Met with program managers at different agencies (NSF, USFS, USGS) to set the basis of the project and get feedback on the proposals.
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Organized symposiums at international meetings.
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The US Forest Service accepted the main proposal.
2012
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Modelers of global climate change scenarios met at USGS Powell Center to discuss how to improve modeling and prediction based on high quality data and analysis. This meeting resulted in the basis of successful proposal.
2013
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USFS funding continued through this year.
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A NASA/DOE proposal was funded.
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August, 2013:
Experimental plot area was selected near the USFS - Sabana Field Research Station.
Design development for plot infrastructure was initiated. -
September, 2013:
Power upgrade began at the Sabana Field Research Station. And the new electrical sub-station and control panels were ordered.
2014
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July, 2014:
The first soil collection for microbial analysis and bulk density was performed in our first Soil Pit Campaign in collaboration with Dr. Pett-Ridge from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Our canopy plant physiology work started. -
October, 2014:
The first project manager was hired: Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez. -
December, 2014:
Experimental plots construction began. (Photos)
2015
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February, 2015:
Minirhizotron sampling tubes were installed in collaboration with Rich Norby from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. -
May, 2015:
Bruce Kimball configured the heaters and set up the understory weather and datalogger station. Infrared thermometers were also installed at each plot to help monitor the treatment. -
June, 2015:
Pretreatment field work campaigns were executed to characterize the site. -
October, 2015:
New sensors were installed: sap flow sensors; in collaboration with Jeff Warren's team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. -
November, 2015:
The canopy access tower was constructed. (Photos)
2016
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March, 2016:
A pre-treatment soil core campaign was performed.
We constructed and installed our litterfall baskets. -
June, 2016:
USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, visited the Sabana Field Research Station and the TRACE project. -
September, 2016:
WARMING BEGAN!!
Litterfall baskets were installed, routine sampling began with the collection of point and surface lysimeter samples, our first interns were hired, and our website was built.
2017
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March, 2017:
Our first PI meeting and soil core campaign post-treatment was executed. -
June 2017:
Our plant physiology team performed a successful warming experiment in the canopy tower, warming individual leaves and branches. -
September 2017:
On the 1st anniversary of the warming treatment, hurricanes Irma (Sep 6, 2017) and Maria (Sep 20, 2017) traversed Puerto Rico. The experiment was on the ground and had to pause for some time. Adaptation and reconstruction work began after the hurricanes and the experiment had a new concept afterwards: the team was provided with a unique opportunity to study the combined effects of warming and hurricane disturbance. -
October, 2017:
CNN visited the project right after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, to learn about the extent of the damages in the Island and the project.
2018
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March, 2018:
A post hurricane data collection was performed to capture the event. -
May, 2018:
Reconstruction of the experimental plots was completed. -
July, 2018:
Our second project manager was hired: Megan Berberich.
A new DOE proposal was funded. -
September, 2018:
WARMING WAS RESTARTED!! (2ND-YEAR) -
October, 2018:
A project coordinator and plant physiology technicians were added to the team. Iana F. Grullón-Penkova and Rob Tunison, respectively, joined the project.
2019
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Feb, 2019:
Danica Cotto, from the Associated Press, visited the project for an insight on the adaptations to the research scope result of the 2017 Hurricanes. -
May, 2019:
The Long-term Ecological Research Network (LTER) science council visited our experiment. -
June, 2019:
A new NSF proposal was funded. -
October, 2019:
New plant physiology technician, Nicole A. Gutiérrez Ramos, joins the team.
General field technician, William Mejía García, joins the project.
The Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE-Tropics) visited our experiment. -
November, 2019:
We hosted our first school visit. Sixth graders from the Elementary School Luis Muñoz Rivera in Cataño, PR visited the project to learn about tropical forest research and climate change. Look at the photos here.
2020
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January, 2020:
6.4 earthquake strikes the south part of Puerto Rico (in Guanica), and the entire island is left with no power.
Oceania, Blue Sea Expedition filming crew made a stop at the project to include our work in their documentary series on United Nations 2030 Sustainability Agenda. -
February, 2020:
Soil Pits opened during Oct 2019 were instrumented with oxygen sensors, & temperature and soil moisture probes. -
March, 2020:
The Covid-19 pandemic strikes but our routine work has not been interrupted. -
July, 2020:
Isabel Loza Rivera joins the team as our new project manager. -
October, 2020:
A soil respiration spatial heterogeneity study was performed in the entire TRACE study site to identify spatial patterns and hot spots for soil gas exchanges and compare this with our plot data.
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April, 2021:
A campaign titled "litter roots campaign" was performed to evaluate roots in the soil litterlayered and understand the spatial root distribution along the soil profile starting at the uppermost layer (litter), including by the organic and going all the way down to the mineral layer. -
July, 2021:
The project hosted our first post-pandemic interns, along with our first ever highschool intern, Carmel Dill Cruz, who spent 3 weeks of her summer break learning out all the measurements and lab analysis we perform.
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January, 2022:
LAST INGROWTH CORE CAMPAIGN! We closed a cycle of in-growth core sampling by analyzing in an intensive 2 week session all out core time points. -
March 2022:
Iana F. Grullón-Penkova becomes our project manager, after being with the project as coordinator for 3 years. -
July, 2022:
New field technician Alberto Pastor Ibáñez joins the team. -
October, 2022:
Hurricane Fiona stroke the Island, and affected slightly our research infrastructure. -
November, 2022:
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​New project graduate student Gabriela Hernandes Villani joins the team.
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A shadehouse experiment in collaboration with Dr. Benedicte Bachelot from Oklahoma State University begun. The infrastructure was built and put in place, and seed collection of the two primary species (Cecropia schreberiana and Guarea guidonia) was started.
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January, 2023:
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​New Environmental Equipment Technician, Deyaneira Ortiz Iglesias, joints the team.
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Forest Service Chief Randy Moore visited Puerto Rico and met with Dr. Tana Wood (PI), Iana Grullón (Project Manager), and Deyaneira Ortiz (Technician) to learn about the TRACE project.
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LTER collaborators Xiangtao Xu from Cornell University and Xi Yang from University of Virginia, with the help of their students, collected Lidar data at the TRACE field site. This data to better understand the effect of the warming treatment on understory plants. Specifically, looking at changes in leaf angle.
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February, 2023: ​
This month we welcomed three new project graduate students:-
Carol Miron, University of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany. ​
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Parker Bartz, Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
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Joel Masanga, Pennsylvania State University in Pennsylvania, USA.
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March, 2023:
TRACE graduated another project student! Dr. Rob Tunison successfully defended his thesis titled: “Tropical plant physiological responses to experimental warming and hurricane disturbance”. -
April, 2023:
Former Field Technician, Alberto Pastor Ibáñez, became a project graduate student by continuing his master’s in Forest Engineering and Geomatics, Remote Sensing and Spatial Models at la Universidad de Córdoba in Spain evaluating TRACE post hurricane Maria forest structure and composition data as part of his thesis. -
May, 2023:
In collaboration with Dr. Adam Collins and Dr. Kurt Solander from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the TRACE team installed 3 soil percolation flux meters in 1.6 meter deep holes at the site, to continue assembling the site's water budget.
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June, 2023:
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​Corazón Latino, a non-profit organization that seeks to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship, filmed TRACE experiment and field crew as part of an initiative to highlight diversity, equity & inclusion in science, specifically in the Forest Service. Learn more about this in the Media Coverage page.
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First TRACE Summer Introduction Day initiated the beginning of a very busy summer with a new round of interns, a group of volunteers, and various graduate student projects.
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July, 2023:
TRACE hosted it's yearly Annual Meeting as a closing for the summer, to catch up on all the good work everyone has been doing, and to support some of the graduate student projects. -
August, 2023:
Malik Sankofa joined the list of project graduate students, he is working with Dr. Cavaleri in Michigan Technological University - Houghton, MI. -
​September, 2023:
TRACE welcomed two new team members:-
Laura Rubio Lebrón, new Field Technician. ​
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Tatiana Barreto Vélez, new Lead Technician.
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November, 2023:
Leaf collections and other preparations for our soon-to-be second decomposition experiment, begun.
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January, 2024:
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TRACE hosted part of the field component of the BIOGEOMON conference,. The visit included a presentation by PI Dr. Tana Wood, a tour of the experimental plots guided by the on-site team, and a facilities exploration in hopes for future collaborations.
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In collaboration with Dr. Aaron Thompson and Dr. Sherlynette Pérez Castro in their latest project: hot iron (Fe); we sampled some superficial soils from the TRACE site.
Their work will focus in understanding soil warming and iron (Fe) redox processes.
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February, 2024: ​
Tatiana Barreto Vélez becomes Project Manager.
