Incluye bibliografía e índice: páginas 723-775

Dedication.. List of Contributors.. Foreword.. Presentation.. Preface.. Part I. Introduction.. 1. Costa Rica’s Ecosystems: Setting the Stage.. Part II. The Physical Environment.. 2. Climate of Costa Rica.. 3. Geology and Tectonic Geomorphology of Costa Rica: A Natural History Approach.. 4. Soils of Costa Rica: An Agroecological Approach.. Part III. The Pacific Ocean and Isla del Coco.. 5. The Pacific Coastal-Marine Ecosystem.. 6. The Gulf of Nicoya Estuarine Ecosystem.. 7. Isla del Coco: Coastal and Marine Ecosystems.. 8. Isla del Coco: Terrestrial Ecosystems.. Part IV. The Northern Pacific Dry Lowlands.. 9. The Northern Pacific Lowland Seasonal Dry Forests of Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula.. 10. Biodiversity Conservation History and Future in Costa Rica: The Case of Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG).. Part V. The Central and Southern Pacific Seasonally Moist Lowlands and Central Valley.. 11. The Central Pacific Seasonal Forests of Puntarenas and the Central Valley.. 12. The Southern Pacific Lowland Evergreen Moist Forest of the Osa Region.. Part VI. The Moist and Clouded Highlands.. 13. The Montane Cloud Forests of the Volcanic Cordilleras.. 14. The Montane Cloud Forests of the Cordillera de Talamanca.. 15. The Páramo Ecosystem of Costa Rica’s Highlands.. Part VII. The Wet Caribbean Lowlands.. 16. The Caribbean Lowland Evergreen Moist and Wet Forests.. Part VIII. The Caribbean Sea and Shore.. 17. The Caribbean Coastal and Marine Ecosystems.. Part IX. The Rivers, Lakes, and Wetlands.. 18. Rivers of Costa Rica.. 19. Lakes of Costa Rica.. 20. Bogs, Marshes and Swamps of Costa Rica.. Part X. Conclusion.. 21. Costa Rican Ecosystems: A Brief Summary.. Acronyms.. Subject Index.. Systematic Index of Common Names.. Systematic Index of Scientific Names

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. Inglés