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.

中文翻译：

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波多黎各社会生态系统对飓风的抵抗力，复原力和脆弱性

受数千年飓风干扰的影响，波多黎各的自然生态系统表现出明显的抵抗力模式（例如，许多树种几乎没有与风暴有关的即时死亡率）和复原力（例如，叶片凋落物和溪流化学物质恢复到飓风前的水平）作为五年）。对近岸地区的同期研究也表明，飓风没有长期影响。但是，人为影响（珊瑚褪色，沉积）在波多黎各海洋系统的长期状况中占主导地位，其中许多已慢慢演变成新型生态系统。新型海洋生态系统的一个关键特征是其长期的利益和弹性丧失，再加上生物多样性的下降以及结构或功能冗余的丧失，这标志着对后续飓风的脆弱性增加。飓风伊尔玛和玛丽亚最近在加勒比地区造成的影响证明，人类系统也受到飓风的强烈影响。缺乏从珊瑚礁生态系统的干扰中短期恢复的能力，再加上人为影响的反复发生，飓风频率或严重性的增加以及海平面的上升，可能对沿海社会生态系统和社会造成不可逆转的长期社会经济后果。为社区谋生。缺少对波多黎各飓风影响的社会生态学全面了解，部分原因是并未全面关注飓风对人类的影响。尽管一些研究提出了一条前进的道路，但是找到有效的方法将风暴强度的测量结果与热带社会生态系统的各个组成部分联系起来仍然是一个挑战。