Rainfall maps for June 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are shown below. Rainfall for June this years is well below normal. El Yunque appears to have received only about 1/3 of the rainfall that it received in each of the previous three years. I am not a forest ecologist, but this seems like a very bad situation to me.
For those of you who don’t know about El Yunque (only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System), here is some background info:
El Yunque National Forest, formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest is located in the rugged Sierra de Luquillo, 40 km southeast of San Juan (latitude 18° 19″ N, longitude 65° 45″). The forest covers lands of the municipalities of Canóvanas, Las Piedras, Luquillo, Fajardo, Ceiba, Naguabo, and Rio Grande.
The forest get its name from an Indian spirit Yuquiye, which means “Forest of Clouds”, that gave the mountain that dominates the 28,000 acre of tropical forest. It is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System. Originally set aside in 1876 by the Spanish Crown, the Forest represents one of the oldest reserves in the Western Hemisphere. With over 240 species (26 species are found nowhere else) of trees and plants, give reason to the government of Puerto Rico to spend a great deal of moneymaking to preserve floral species and animals that are on the verge of extinction. The total area is 11,270 ha (75% of Puerto Rico virgin forest is here).
For more info: http://www.topuertorico.org/reference/yunque.shtml