Biodiversity Conservation in Costa Rica: Learning the Lessons in a Seasonal Dry ForestGordon W. Frankie, Alfonso Mata, S. Bradleigh Vinson 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. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 2005. |
Contents
TROPICAL DRYFOREST MAMMALS | 48 |
THE CONSERVATION VALUES | 67 |
DRYFOREST TREE SPECIES | 80 |
Biotic Relationships with Other 20 THE MEDIA AND BIODIVERSITY | 257 |
Gilbert Barrantes and Julio E Sánchez | 266 |
Richard K LaVal | 281 |
MESOAMERICAN DRYFOREST 23 DISPUTE OVER THE PROTECTION OF | 289 |
CONSERVATION 24 THE POLICY CONTEXT FOR CONSERVATION | 299 |
SEA TURTLES IN COSTA RICA 194 Katrina Brandon | 311 |
CONSERVATION IN MESOAMERICAN Katrina Brandon | 325 |
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Common terms and phrases
abundance agricultural amphibians ants aquatic Bagaces bats Bawa beaches bees biodiversity Biología Tropical biologists birds butterflies cattle Central America chapter cloud forest Conservation Area Conservation Biology Costa Rica Costa Rican dry deforestation dry season Ecology ecosystems effects environment environmental estuary fauna fire flowering foraging forest fragments Forestry Frankie groups Guanacaste Guanacaste Conservation Area Guanacaste Province Gulf of Nicoya Haber important insects Janzen Journal land laws leatherbacks levels Lomas Barbudal lowland mammals mangrove ment Mesoamerica Mexico migration MINAE monitoring Monteverde moths National Park natural history Neotropical nesting Nicoya Peninsula Opler organisms Pacific Palo Verde pastures percent plants Playa pollination systems populations Press protected areas quinata rain forest rainy season region reproductive Revista de Biología Rica’s Rican dry forest riparian San José sea turtles seed servation Tempisque River tion tree species tropical dry forest tropical forests University Vinson wet forest wildlife zones