As cyclonic wind storms (hurricanes and typhoons) increase in frequency and intensity with climate change, it is important to understand their effects on the populations and communities of tropical trees they impact. Using tree demographic data from four large, tropical forest dynamics plots that differ in cyclonic storm frequency, we compare tree population and community dynamics. Additionally, we assess the effect of cyclonic storms on three functional traits, specific leaf area, wood density, and tree height of the dynamic tree assemblages. Mortality, growth and recruitment rates and the intrinsic rates of population growth of species differed across the plots, and were most dynamic, especially for stems 1–2 cm in diameter, at the plot which had an intermediate level of cyclonic storm frequency. Functional assemblages of species had the greatest degree of temporal variation in relation to disturbance, as measured by the change in functional divergence for the two plots with more intermediate cyclonic storm recurrence. Therefore, cyclonic storms affecting these plots generally have a greater effect on forest composition and dynamism than comparable cyclonic storms do on the plot which experiences cyclonic storms more frequently. Thus, we provide some evidence that community-wide demographic resistance to cyclonic storms is generally lower at an intermediate frequency of storms. While cyclonic storm strength and timing are important determinants of the within forest variation in tree dynamics and functional trait assemblages, we also show that cyclonic storm timing and frequency shapes tropical forest dynamics and functional composition across forests. We conclude that, over a given time interval, sites with intermediate levels of damaging cyclonic wind disturbance express a greater potential for life-history variation in the forest community, when compared to sites with less or more frequent disturbance.

Subject to hurricane disturbance for millennia, natural ecosystems of Puerto Rico exhibit clear patterns of resistance (e.g., many tree species have little immediate storm‐related mortality) and resilience (e.g., leaf litterfall and stream chemistry returned to pre‐hurricane levels in as little as five years). Contemporaneous studies of near‐shore areas also suggested no long‐term impacts of hurricanes; however, anthropogenic effects (coral bleaching, sedimentation) dominate the long‐term condition of marine systems in Puerto Rico, many of which have slowly evolved into novel ecosystems. A key characteristic of novel marine ecosystems is their long‐term loss of benefits and resilience, coupled to declining biodiversity and loss of structural or functional redundancy, signaling increased vulnerability to subsequent hurricanes. Human systems are also strongly affected by cyclonic storms, as evidenced by the recent impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean. The lack of short‐term recovery from disturbance by coral reef ecosystems, coupled with an increasing recurrence of anthropogenic impacts, increasing hurricane frequency or severity, and sea‐level rise, may have irreversible long‐term socioeconomic consequences for coastal social–ecological systems and for community livelihoods. A comprehensive social–ecological understanding of hurricane effects in Puerto Rico is lacking in part because hurricane effects on human populations are not comprehensively followed. Although some studies suggest a path forward, finding effective methods to link measurements of storm intensity to the diverse components of tropical social–ecological systems remains a challenge.

Foundation species define and structure ecological communities but are difficult to identify before they are declining. Yet, their defining role in ecosystems suggests they should be a high priority for protection and management while they are still common and abundant. We used comparative analyses of six large forest dynamics plots spanning a temperate-to-tropical gradient in the Western Hemisphere to identify statistical “fingerprints” of potential foundation species based on their size-frequency and abundance-diameter distributions, and their spatial association with five measures of diversity of associated woody plant species. Potential foundation species are outliers from the common “reverse-J” size-frequency distribution, and have negative effects on alpha diversity and positive effects on beta diversity at most spatial lags and directions. Potential foundation species also are more likely in temperate forests, but foundational species groups may occur in tropical forests. As foundation species (or species groups) decline, associated landscape-scale (beta) diversity is likely to decline along with them. Preservation of this component of biodiversity may be the most important consequence of protecting foundation species while they are still common.

Interannual changes in global climate and weather disturbances may influence reproduction in tropical forests. Phenomena such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are known to produce interannual variation in reproduction, as do severe storms such as hurricanes. Using stationary trap‐based phenology data collected fortnightly from 1993 to 2014 from a hurricane‐affected (1989 Hugo, 1998 Georges) subtropical wet forest in northeastern Puerto Rico, we conducted a time series analysis of flowering and seed production. We addressed (1) the degree to which interannual variation in flower and seed production was influenced by global climate drivers and time since hurricane disturbance, and (2) how long‐term trends in reproduction varied with plant lifeform. The seasonally de‐trended number of species in flower fluctuated over time while the number of species producing seed exhibited a declining trend, one that was particularly evident during the second half of the study period. Lagged El Niño indices and time series hurricane disturbance jointly influenced the trends in numbers of flowering and fruiting species, suggesting complex global influences on tropical forest reproduction with variable periodicities. Lag times affecting flowering tended to be longer than those affecting fruiting. Long‐term patterns of reproduction in individual lifeforms paralleled the community‐wide patterns, with most groups of lifeform exhibiting a long‐term decline in seed but not flower production. Exceptions were found for hemiepiphytes, small trees, and lianas whose seed reproduction increased and then declined over time. There was no long‐term increase in flower production as reported in other Neotropical sites.