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Author: Maarten Kappelle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022612164X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 798
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Book Description
In the more than thirty years since the publication of Daniel H. Janzen’s classic Costa Rican Natural History, research in this small but astonishingly biodiverse, well-preserved, and well-studied Latin American nation has evolved from a species-level approach to the study of entire ecosystems. And from the lowland dry forests of Guanacaste to the montane cloud forests of Monteverde, from the seasonal forests of the Central Valley to the coastal species assemblages of Tortuguero, Costa Rica has proven to be as richly diverse in ecosystems as it is in species. In Costa Rican Ecosystems, Maarten Kappelle brings together a collection of the world’s foremost experts on Costa Rican ecology—outstanding scientists such as Daniel H. Janzen, Jorge Cortés, Jorge A. Jiménez, Sally P. Horn, Robert O. Lawton, Quírico Jiménez M., Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Catherine M. Pringle, and Eduardo Carrillo J., among others—to offer the first comprehensive account of the diversity, structure, function, uses, and conservation of Costa Rica’s ecosystems. Featuring a foreword and introductory remarks by two renowned leaders in biodiversity science and ecological conservation, Thomas E. Lovejoy and Rodrigo Gámez Lobo, in addition to chapters highlighting the geology, soils, and climate of Costa Rica, as well as the ecosystems of its terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats, and including previously unpublished information on Isla del Coco, this beautiful color-illustrated book will be an essential reference for academic scientists, students, natural history guides, conservationists, educators, park guards, and visitors alike.
Author: Maarten Kappelle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022612164X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 798
Get Book
Book Description
In the more than thirty years since the publication of Daniel H. Janzen’s classic Costa Rican Natural History, research in this small but astonishingly biodiverse, well-preserved, and well-studied Latin American nation has evolved from a species-level approach to the study of entire ecosystems. And from the lowland dry forests of Guanacaste to the montane cloud forests of Monteverde, from the seasonal forests of the Central Valley to the coastal species assemblages of Tortuguero, Costa Rica has proven to be as richly diverse in ecosystems as it is in species. In Costa Rican Ecosystems, Maarten Kappelle brings together a collection of the world’s foremost experts on Costa Rican ecology—outstanding scientists such as Daniel H. Janzen, Jorge Cortés, Jorge A. Jiménez, Sally P. Horn, Robert O. Lawton, Quírico Jiménez M., Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Catherine M. Pringle, and Eduardo Carrillo J., among others—to offer the first comprehensive account of the diversity, structure, function, uses, and conservation of Costa Rica’s ecosystems. Featuring a foreword and introductory remarks by two renowned leaders in biodiversity science and ecological conservation, Thomas E. Lovejoy and Rodrigo Gámez Lobo, in addition to chapters highlighting the geology, soils, and climate of Costa Rica, as well as the ecosystems of its terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats, and including previously unpublished information on Isla del Coco, this beautiful color-illustrated book will be an essential reference for academic scientists, students, natural history guides, conservationists, educators, park guards, and visitors alike.
Author: Gordon W. Frankie
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520937775
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
The beautiful tropical dry forest of northwest Costa Rica, with its highly seasonal rainfall and diversely vegetated landscape, is disappearing even more rapidly than Costa Rica's better-known rain forest, primarily because it has been easier to convert to agriculture. This book, based on more than thirty years of study, offers the first comprehensive look at the ecology, biodiversity, and conservation status of this endangered and fragile region. The contributors, from Costa Rica, Britain, Mexico, and the United States, and representing the fields of ecology, environmental education, policy, and the law, examine the major plant and animal groups living in the dry forest and present the first technical evaluation of Costa Rica's conservation efforts. As they assess the status of their area of specialty in the dry forest, the contributors also look beyond this particular region to show how its plants and animals are ecologically and evolutionarily connected to other geographic areas in Costa Rica and Central America. Their chapters cover topics such as watershed and coastal management, plant phenology, pollination, insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. They also consider the socioeconomic, policy, legal, and political aspects of biodiversity conservation, giving the volume a wide-ranging perspective and making a unique contribution to our knowledge of the tropical dry forest. The book concludes with an important synthesis of the contributors' recommendations on future directions, policies, and actions that will better conserve biodiversity in Costa Rica and other neotropical forests as well.
Author: Sterling Evans
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292789289
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
With over 25 percent of its land set aside in national parks and other protected areas, Costa Rica is renowned worldwide as "the green republic." In this very readable history of conservation in Costa Rica, Sterling Evans explores the establishment of the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture. Drawing on interviews with key players in the conservation movement, as well as archival research, Evans traces the emergence of a conservation ethic among Costa Ricans and the tangible forms it has taken. In Part I, he describes the development of the national park system and "the grand contradiction" that conservation occurred simultaneously with massive deforestation in unprotected areas. In Part II, he examines other aspects of Costa Rica's conservation experience, including the important roles played by environmental education and nongovernmental organizations, campesino and indigenous movements, ecotourism, and the work of the National Biodiversity Institute.
Author: Robert Fletcher
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 081654011X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
Despite its tiny size and seeming marginality to world affairs, the Central American republic of Costa Rica has long been considered an important site for experimentation in cutting-edge environmental policy. From protected area management to ecotourism to payment for environmental services (PES) and beyond, for the past half-century the country has successfully positioned itself at the forefront of novel trends in environmental governance and sustainable development. Yet the increasingly urgent dilemma of how to achieve equitable economic development in a world of ecosystem decline and climate change presents new challenges, testing Costa Rica’s ability to remain a leader in innovative environmental governance. This book explores these challenges, how Costa Rica is responding to them, and the lessons this holds for current and future trends regarding environmental governance and sustainable development. It provides the first comprehensive assessment of successes and challenges as they play out in a variety of sectors, including agricultural development, biodiversity conservation, water management, resource extraction, and climate change policy. By framing Costa Rica as an “ecolaboratory,” the contributors in this volume examine the lessons learned and offer a path for the future of sustainable development research and policy in Central America and beyond.
Author: Maarten Kappelle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627893X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 798
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Book Description
In 1502, Christopher Columbus named Costa Rica, and while gold and silver never materialized to justify the moniker of rich coast in purely economic terms, scientists and ecotravelers alike have long appreciated its incredible wealth. Wealth in Costa Rica is best measured by its biodiversityhome to a dizzying number of plants and animals, many endemic, it s a country that has long encouraged and welcomed researchers from the world over, and is exemplary in the creation and commitment to indigenous conservation and management programs. Costa Rica is considered to have the best preserved natural resources in Latin America. Approximately nine percent (about 1,000,000 acres) of Costa Rica has been protected in 15 national parks, and a comparable amount of land is protected as wildlife refuges, forest reserves or Indian reservations. This long-awaited synthesis of Costa Rican ecosystems is an authoritative presentation of the paleoecology, biogeography, structure, conservation, and sustainable use of Costa Rica s ecosystems. It systematically covers the entire range of Costa Rica s natural and managed, terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, including its island systems (Cocos Islands), the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and shores (coasts, coral reefs, mangrove forests), its lowlands (dry, season and wet forests), its highlands (the northern volcanoes and southern Talamanca s), and its estuaries, rivers, lakes, swamps and bogs. The volume s integrated, comprehensive format will be welcomed by tropical and temperate biologists alike, by biogeographers, plant and animal ecologists, marine biologists, conservation biologists, foresters, policy-makers and all scientists, natural history specialists and all with an interest in Costa Rica s ecosystems."
Author: Daniel H. Janzen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022616120X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 829
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Book Description
This volume is a synthesis of existing knowledge about the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. The major portion of the book consists of detailed accounts of agricultural species, vegetation, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, and insects. "This is an extraordinary, virtually unique work. . . . The tremendous amount of original, previously unpublished, firsthand information is remarkable."—Peter H. Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden "An essential resource for anyone interested in tropical biology. . . . It can be used both as an encyclopedia—a source of facts on specific organisms—and as a source of ideas and generalizations about tropical ecology."—Alan P. Smith, Ecology
Author: Ryan E. Galt
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816598908
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
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Book Description
Pesticides, a short-term aid for farmers, can often be harmful, undermining the long-term health of agriculture, ecosystems, and people. The United States and other industrialized countries import food from Costa Rica and other regions. To safeguard the public health, importers now regulate the level and types of pesticides used in the exporters’ food production, which creates “regulatory risk” for the export farmers. Although farmers respond to export regulations by trying to avoid illegal pesticide residues, the food produced for their domestic market lacks similar regulation, creating a double standard of pesticide use. Food Systems in an Unequal World examines the agrochemical-dependent agriculture of Costa Rica and how its uneven regulation in export versus domestic markets affects Costa Rican vegetable farmers. Examining pesticide-dependent vegetable production within two food systems, the author shows that pesticide use is shaped by three main forces: agrarian capitalism, the governance of food systems throughout the commodity chain, and ecological dynamics driving local food production. Those processes produce unequal outcomes that disadvantage less powerful producers who have more limited choices than larger farmers, who usually have access to better growing environments and thereby can reduce pesticide use and production costs. Despite the rise of alternative food networks, Galt says, persistent problems remain in the conventional food system, including widespread and intensive pesticide use. Facing domestic price squeezes, vegetable farmers in Costa Rica are more likely to supply the national market with produce containing residues of highly toxic pesticides, while using less toxic pesticides on exported vegetables. In seeking solutions, Galt argues for improved governance and research into alternative pest control but emphasizes that the process must be rooted in farmers’ economic well-being.
Author: Ingo S. Wehrtmann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402082789
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 545
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Book Description
Life began in the sea, and even today most of the deep diversity of the planet is marine. This is often forgotten, especially in tropical countries like Costa Rica, renowned for their rain forests and the multitude of life forms found therein. Thus this book focusing on marine diversity of Costa Rica is particularly welcome. How many marine species are there in Costa Rica? The authors report a total of 6,777 species, or 3. 5% of the world’s total. Yet the vast majority of marine species have yet to be formally described. Recent estimates of the numbers of species on coral reefs range from 1–9 million, so that the true number of marine species in Costa Rica is certainly far higher. In some groups the numbers are likely to be vastly higher because to date they have been so little studied. Only one species of nematode is reported, despite the fact that it has been said that nematodes are the most diverse of all marine groups. In better studied groups such as mollusks and crustaceans, reported numbers are in the thousands, but even in these groups many species remain to be described. Indeed the task of describing marine species is daunting – if there really are about 9 million marine species and Costa Rica has 3. 5% of them, then the total number would be over 300,000. Clearly, so much remains to be done that new approaches are needed. Genetic methods have en- mous promise in this regard.
Author: Gilad James, PhD
Publisher: Gilad James Mystery School
ISBN: 3760376916
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 85
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Book Description
Costa Rica is a country located in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. It covers an area of 51,100 square kilometers with a population of around 5 million people. The country is known for its natural beauty, biodiversity, and progressive policies towards conservation and sustainability. Costa Rica is famous for its environmental conservation efforts and its significant share of the global biodiversity. The country is comprised of various types of ecosystems, including tropical and cloud forests, mangroves, wetlands, and marine areas, making it a popular destination for tourists and nature enthusiasts. The country's economy is mainly driven by agriculture, particularly coffee and banana production, as well as tourism, technology services, and manufacturing. Despite being a developing country, Costa Rica has a high standard of living, a strong focus on education, healthcare, and social welfare, and it is considered one of the happiest countries in the world.
Author: Thammineni Pullaiah
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119607035
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : de
Pages : 1488
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Book Description
INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES Invasive Alien Species: Observations and Issues from Around the World Volume 1: Issues and Invasions in Africa Invasive alien species are spreading into new ecosystems each year. The impacts caused by these invaders can be swift and devastating. The topic of invasive alien species is large, complex, and globally significant at various scales, exacerbated by the globalization of world economies and increased trade and commerce that has overcome natural barriers to species movement. Invasive alien species threaten global food supplies, water quality and availability, and energy production and delivery. With the added risks associated with global climate change, the global homogenization of plants, animals, and microbes is a major factor in the decline in ecosystem health and ecosystem services worldwide. To counter this trend, there is a critical need to unify governments, cultures, and programs to improve cross-boundary coordination to effectively address the wide range of invasive alien species threats to the environment, economies, and to plant and animal health; particularly human health. This 4-volume work is the first to compile a set of useful material for key topics, to provide a better understanding of the overall global threat of invasive alien species and the diverse array of problems faced around the world, and assemble material that includes potential replicable solutions to overcome these threats. The books also highlight the threat posed by invasive alien species in terms of a global ‘call to action’. Since invasive species know no boundaries, it is our hope that by compiling material from different scientific and social perspectives around the world, and sharing knowledge and examples of a diverse array of associated topics, we can advance global awareness and improve unified national responses to the threat posed by invasive alien species.
