New World Tropics
Tropical Conditions
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High temperatures
– Averages in high 70’s year round
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High rainfall
– 130-250 days of rainfall
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Consistent daylength
Seasonality in rainfall rather than temperature
Biomes
Incidence of Sunlight
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90 degrees at equator
Global Air Circulation
ITCZ
Movement creates seasonality
Rainshadow Effect
Topography of CR
Spatial Variation in
Rainfall in CR
Effects of Altitude
Temporal Variation in Rainfall
Water Recycling
Tropical Seasons
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Rainy Season in CR is June-December
Dry Season in CR is January-May
July Rainfall Patterns
December Rainfall Patterns
Dry Season Flowering
Wet Season Fruiting
Wet Season Herbivory and Arthopod Abundance
Late Dry Season Nesting
Diet Shifts with Season
Tamandua
Rainforests
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Non-seasonal forest with broad-leaved evergreen trees
Rainfall is abundant and constant
Generally receives at least 200 cm of rainfall annually
High in biodiversity
La Selva contains lowland rainforest
Cloud Forest
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High elevation Rainforest essentially
Monteverde contains cloud forest
Elfin Forest
Dry or Seasonal Forests
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Savanna-like open woodlands with deciduous trees
More threatened than lowland rainforest
Climate, soils and disturbances maintain dry forests
Palo Verde contains seasonal forests
Santa Rosa
Succesional Systems
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Abundant system in CR due to human activity
Arenal contains successional systems which are a result of volcanic
activity
Aquatic Systems
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Dynamic system
Palo Verde contains riverine and floodplain wetland systems
Oxbow Lake
Marine Systems
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Las Baulas contains marine and estuarine systems
Tidal Pools
Mangrove Swamps
Mangrove seedlings
Costa Rican Organisms
PLANTS
Forest Structure
Cauliflory
Buttresses
Leaves
Palms
Walking Palm
Strangler Figs
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Dispersed by arboreal species
Germinate in canopy and send roots down to ground
Lianas
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Vines are sensitive to freezing
From many different plant families
Epiphytes
Bromeliads
Orchids
Tree Ferns
Hot Lips (Psychotria elata)
Poor-man’s Umbrella
Gunnera spp.
Familiar plants
Tools of the Trade
THE FIELD JOURNAL
Joseph Grinnell
Field Journal
The Grinnell Method
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Field Notebook
– Goes with you everywhere
– Use ink that is not water soluble
– Use acid-free paper
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Field Journal
– Stays in your lodging location
– Each night information from the field notebook is transcribed into
the field journal
What goes in the field journal?
• Record of day’s activities and observations
– Date
– Weather
– Time
– Location
– Route
– Habitat description
– Vegetation type
– Maps
Species Accounts
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Detailed descriptions and observations of species that are encountered
Can include sketch or photo
Observations
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Observations are key to developing hypotheses
Write down research ideas/hypotheses that occur to you
Purpose
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Developing the ability to make accurate observations and keep
meticulous records is key to being a good scientist, no matter your field
Costa Rican Culture
HISTORY and INTRODUCTION
Pre-Columbian
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Europeans arrived in 1502
Native Peoples
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Caribs
Botucas
Chibchas
Diquis
Hunters and fisherman
Raised yucca, squash and pejibaye
Metalworks
Bolas or Diquis Spheres
Spain’s Gil González Davila
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Sent by Ferdinand in 1522
Named Costa Rica for gold collected during expedition
Promotion of Christianity
Failed colonization attempts
Colonization of Costa Rica
• Representatives of Spain under Phillip II in Guatemala decide to
conquer Costa Rica
• Many natives already decimated by conflict and disease
• Fled to isolated areas
• Largest population (Chorotegas) on Nicoya peninsula
– Spanish settlers allowed to have forced native labor
Juan Vásquez de Coronado
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Arrived as governor in 1562
Cartago made capital
Soon virtually no native peoples remaining
Gold depleted and no more free labor
Subsistence economy
– Used cacao beans as currency
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Cartago destroyed by volcano in 1723
New cities
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San Jose founded in 1737
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Exports of wheat and tobacco boosted economy
Independence
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In 1821 soon after Mexico
Various shifts in power
Coffee rises in importance
Tómas Guardia
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Seized power in 1870
Abolished capital punishment
Used taxes and coffee profits to build roads and public buildings
Made primary education for both sexes free
Move To Democracy
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Civil war for 40 days in 1948
Disbanded military in 1949
Constitution created in 1949
President Oscar Arias Sánchez wins Nobel Peace Prize in 1987
Costa Rica Today
• 4.5 million people
– 80% white
– 15% mestizo
– 3% black
– 1% indigenous
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Speak Spanish
75% Roman Catholic
60% urban dwellers
Literacy rate of 96%
Economy
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GDP $11,000 US
8% unemployment
Tourism
Agriculture
Manufacturing
25% of land area in protected areas
5th in the world in Environmental Performance Index