Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project

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The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project (PRGAP) began in 2001 to assess Puerto Rico’s land cover, vertebrate distributions, land stewardship, and gaps in the conservation of vertebrate species and habitats. The project was instigated by Dr. Jaime Collazo, Assistant Unit Leader, North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Professor of Zoology and Forestry at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and has been led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and NCSU (Gould et al. 2007). PRGAP is based on methods developed by the National Gap Analysis Program to determine the degree to which animal species and natural communities are represented in the current mix of conservation lands. Those species or communities not well represented are considered conservation “gaps.” The purpose of PRGAP is to provide geographic and ecological information on the status of the terrestrial vertebrate species and habitats of Puerto Rico. This provides land managers, government planning and policy makers, scientists, students, and the general public with information to make better decisions regarding land management and conservation. PRGAP has four major components: land cover mapping, documentation of vertebrate species distributions, documentation of land stewardship practices with respect to conservation, and an integrated analysis of these three elements. A number of research publications, reports, and maps have been derived from PRGAP (Gould et al. 2006; Gould et al. 2007; Martinuzzi et al. 2007a–c; Vierling et al. 2007; Gould et al. 2008a–d; Martinuzzi et al. 2008a–c; ParésRamos et al. 2008). Land Cover