Data from: The impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria on the forest ecosystems of Saba and St. Eustatius, northern Caribbean

In September 2017, Irma became the first recorded category 5 hurricane to
hit the Caribbean Windward Islands. The second category 5, Maria, followed
two weeks later. In November 2017, we assessed the structural impact of
this disturbance on highly valued Caribbean forest ecosystems. We recorded
the status of 935 tree stems on Saba and St. Eustatius in stands at
different elevations. Tree damage was substantial on both islands, with
93% of stems being defoliated, 84% having lost primary and/or secondary
branches and 36% having structural stem damage. Average tree mortality was
18%, with mortality being nearly twice as high on St. Eustatius than on
Saba. Surprisingly, we found that neither individual stem size nor
community size distributions mediated the forests’ response to the
hurricanes. Our results show that these hurricanes comprised a
density-independent disturbance, which may become more common as the
frequency of strong hurricanes is projected to increase.