Scientists are studying the effects of climate change on a tropical forest, and have selected one of few United States tropical rain forests to undertake the work -- the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico.

What makes El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico a suitable place to study is its 200 species of trees and plants, 23 of which can be found nowhere else, and no venomous snakes. Tropical forests contribute 50 percent of the world's known species, and 55 percent of the global forest biomass and forests of all kinds help control greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. But while temperate forest can adapt to climate change no one knows if tropical forests will be able to adapt.

The study, The Tropical Response to Altered Climate Experiment, is the first of its kind on any tropical forest, will investigate what the effect of climate change, in particularly warming, will have on the tropical forests of the world. Leading the study are three women scientists from Michigan Technological University's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Tree physiologist Molly Cavaleri told Michigan Tech News, "We will be manipulating the environment, warming the leaves and branches (with infrared heaters and warming cabels) of the canopy as well as the smaller plants on the forest floor, not just observing."

The three women scientists are collaborating with scientists with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey, and they will use the data to help create better predictive models about the effects of climate change on tropical forests.

Cavaleri told Michigan Tech News, "We want to know how sensitive forests are to warming, what physiological changes it will cause, particularly how it affects the trees' ability to store carbon dioxide. If we tip the over a threshold where it's too warm, they may not be able to take up much carbon dioxide. They may even start giving off more carbon dioxide which lead to more warming."

El Yunque National Forest is in northeastern Puerto Rico, and covers 23,000 acres -- the largest area of public land in the country. The name of the forest comes from the Taino word yu-kue meaning "white lands," and was renamed by an Executive Order under President George W. Bush in 2007 -- the forest was known previously as the Caribbean National Forest.