Improvement of the Karst Forest's Mata de Platano Field Station

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Mata de Platano is a 53 ha reserve within a large area set aside for conservation. Originally established by an environmental organization, Mata de Platano is now managed by Inter American University of PR. Located in the northern karst belt of Puerto Rico on the West Indies, Mata de Platano lies within the largest unfragmented and most diverse forest in the island. Twenty-two percent of the island population uses ground water that originates in this karst belt, and the region is considered wilderness in terms of its geomorphic, ecological, and subterranean features. Nevertheless, the area has received less attention from a scientific point of view than the wet forest in the igneous soils of eastern Puerto Rico. The major reason for this unbalanced examination of ecosystems is the lack of a field station capable of providing much needed infrastructure for the pursuit of long term ecological studies.Mata de Platano Nature Reserve contains within its premises a standing concrete structure that will be restored using funds from this award in order to establish a center capable of sustaining long-term research and educational activities. The establishment of this field station will greatly improve our knowledge of karst forests; increase the availability of research experience for students, including low income minority students; and as an added value will contribute towards the conservation of forests with high biotic diversity.