Hurricane effects on Neotropical lizards span geographic and phylogenetic scales

Extreme climate events such as droughts, cold snaps, and hurricanes can be powerful agents of natural selection, producing acute selective pressures very different from the everyday pressures acting on organisms. However, it remains unknown whether these infrequent but severe disruptions are quickly erased by quotidian selective forces, or whether they have the potential to durably shape biodiversity patterns across regions and clades. Here, we show that hurricanes have enduring evolutionary impacts on the morphology of anoles, a diverse Neotropical lizard clade. We first demonstrate a transgenerational effect of extreme selection on toepad area for two populations struck by hurricanes in 2017. Given this short-term effect of hurricanes, we then asked whether populations and species that more frequently experienced hurricanes have larger toepads. Using 70 y of historical hurricane data, we demonstrate that, indeed, toepad area positively correlates with hurricane activity for both 12 island populations of Anolis sagrei and 188 Anolis species throughout the Neotropics. Extreme climate events are intensifying due to climate change and may represent overlooked drivers of biogeographic and large-scale biodiversity patterns.

Hurricane Impacts on Florida’s Agriculture and Natural Resources

Hurricanes are the most powerful and largest weather event happening in the air, affecting almost everything in their paths. Their strong winds and heavy rain can directly impact both inland and coastal areas in short periods, usually around a day. Understanding hurricane effects is the first step to preparing for hurricanes. The effects of hurricanes can be comprehensive and long-lasting, even permanent, at the spatial scales of a single molecule to whole ecosystems. Much effort has been made to come up with ways to accurately predict, effectively prepare for, and quickly recover from hurricanes, but their sizes and complexity make this difficult. Multidisciplinary collaborations are required to improve our understanding of hurricanes. Here, we review basic facts of hurricanes and their effects in Florida and speculate on how they might affect Florida’s agriculture and natural resources. Examples and speculations provided in this article demonstrate how weather, agriculture, environment, and ecosystem are connected to each other across spatial scales ranging from microorganisms to an entire landscape.

Hurricane effects amplify Puerto Rico’s deeper trouble

Subject Politics and economics update for Puerto Rico. Significance The US Army Corps of Engineers expects to be conducting post-Hurricane Maria repair operations down to around April. Impacts Outmigration of working-age Puerto Ricans will constrain economic diversification. Puerto Rico faces competitive constraints with neighbouring islands, given US minimum wage legislation. Post-hurricane Puerto Rican police capacity shortages could see crime rise.