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Most of the knowledge of tropical storm effects on forests is from studies conducted in reserves and protected areas. Effects on other settings such as urban forests, coastal forests, and in landscapes with mixed land uses and covers are, comparatively, less studied. Yet research from a range of forest types and landscape compositions is needed to inform actions associated with management, mitigation, or restoration efforts before and after storms. Studies of forests comprising various conditions, along with long-term observations, would offer unique insights into the varied and cumulative effects of tropical storms on forest ecosystems. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is one of the sites where most tropical storm-forest studies are conducted, yet studies come from a limited set of sites. Using Puerto Rico as a case study, we emphasize the need for broader research approaches that represent the wider range of forests that are exposed to tropical storms. Such an approach will provide valuable knowledge and understanding needed to inform and take actions across landscape settings, forest context, and socio-environmental conditions.

Streams and rivers of the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, have been the subject of extensive watershed and aquatic research since the 1980s. This research includes understanding stream export of nutrients and coarse particulate organic matter, physicochemical constituents, aquatic fauna populations and community structure. However, many of the streams and watersheds studied do not appear in standard scale maps. We document recent collaborative and multi-institutional work to improve hydrological network information and identify knowledge gaps. The methods used to delimit and densify stream networks include establishment and incorporation of an updated new vertical datum for Puerto Rico, LIDAR derived elevation, and a combination of visual-manual and automated digitalization processes. The outcomes of this collaborative effort have resulted in improved watershed delineation, densification of hydrologic networks to reflect the scale of on-going studies, and the identification of constraining factors such as unmapped roadways, culverts, and other features of the built environment that interrupt water flow and alter runoff pathways. This work contributes to enhanced knowledge for watershed management, including attributes of riparian areas, effects of road and channel intersections and ridge to reef initiatives with broad application to other watersheds.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria impacted the archipelago of Puerto Rico as a category 4. As a result of this experience, the book ‘Un cambio categoría 4: Memorias del huracán María’— which includes the personal narratives of 15 undergraduate students from the University of Puerto Rico—was produced. In this article we document the book's production and dissemination process. We describe how this process represented a mechanism for coping with post-disaster conditions, as well as contributing to the academic and professional development of students. We exemplify how the book contributes to the aspirations of ‘Power, Prestige & Forgotten Values: A Disaster Studies Manifesto', which highlights, among other things, the need for knowledge production by those who suffer the impacts of disasters in a way that adequately reflects the local realities in which disasters occur; the Manifesto also advocates that knowledge production should benefit those who live at risk and experience disasters. In this context, we reflect and suggest areas to advance the objectives of the Manifesto, specifically, and the study of disasters and risk reduction, more broadly.