Hurricanes are major perturbations in Caribbean forests. They result in canopy removal and deposition of pulses of litter to the forest floor, which can alter biotic and biogeochemical processes. In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Georges (1998) struck the Luquillo Mountains and caused 0.55 – 0.93 times the annual litterfall. Forest floor standing stocks were then 1.2 - 2.5 times greater than pre-Georges values. Litter standing stocks returned to normal within a year; but it was not clear if canopy opening and/or hurricane litter deposition had stimulated decomposition. Thus, the Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) was designed to experimentally disentangle the effects of canopy opening vs. debris deposition resulting from hurricane disturbance on organismal and ecosystem responses in a subtropical wet forest. We hypothesized that both factors, alone and together, modify detrital processing and nutrient release through their effects on litter invertebrate and microbial communities. Here we present data from two simultaneous litter decay experiments (litterbags of different mesh sizes and litter baskets) and associated measures of microbial and invertebrate communities. Canopy opening initially resulted in major differences in microclimate between trimmed and untrimmed plots that diminished as the canopy recovered. Soil and litter moisture levels responded differently to canopy trimming. Litter moisture was lower in trimmed plots than in untrimmed plots. In contrast, soil moisture was higher in the trimmed plots during the early stages of the experiment. Differences in litter moisture were related to changes in the microbial composition of the decaying litter. Though fungi:bacteria ratios in the decaying litter were not affected by canopy opening or biomass redistribution, basidiomycetes that degrade lignin decreased with canopy opening and increased with debris deposition while ascomyceteous microfungi increased with canopy opening. The diversity of litter fungi was greater than that of the bacteria at the early stages of decay; while the inverse pattern was significantly evident at the latter stages. Canopy opening significantly reduced invertebrate diversity and biomass, but not the overall abundance. Individual taxa responded differently, resulting in community differences between trimmed and untrimmed plots. Mites, collembolans, and psocopterans (microbiovores mainly feeding on fungal hyphae and spores) responded positively to the canopy opening. Meanwhile, the abundance of all other taxa (larger detritivores and predators) declined due to canopy opening. The percent of mass remaining was greater in trimmed plots than in untrimmed plots. Fungal connectivity between the litter cohorts (mostly basidiomycetes) was reduced by drying in the trimmed plots, and was strongly correlated with reduced P accumulation and slower rates of decay. These results suggest that disturbance has long-lasting effects on litter communities, which may affect detrital processing.