Conservation Biology
Monteverde's forest canopy, understory, light gaps, streams, and soils
support an overwhelming variety of animals, plants, fungi and microbes.
The interactions between species of Costa Rica's highland forests are equally
rich and complex. Even habitats that have been extensively modified
by humans, such as pastures, gardens and yards, are biologically diverse
in Monteverde. Most of the species found in the region occur only
in the highlands of Central America, and many of them are restricted to
the Cordillera de Tilaran alone. Monteverde holds not only a unique
suite of species but also a disproportionate percentage of Central America's
surviving forests, as a result of extensive deforestation in the lowlands.
Some of Monteverde's species have become noticeably scarcer in just
the last decade. A few have vanished altogether. These aspects
of the biology of Monteverde -- the region's great richness
of species, habitats, and interactions; its high degree of endemism
and preservation of Costa Rica's shrinking forest cover; and its
accelerating extinction pressures -- are the critical background
for understanding the conservation biology of the region.
The chapter on "Conservation Biology in Monteverde" in the book "Monteverde:
Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest (table
of contents subpage) was edited by Nathaniel T. Wheelwright (his
website). The goals of this chapter are to (1) provide a brief overview
of some important concepts in conservation biology, (2) highlight aspects
of the biodiversity of Monteverde that are relevant to conservation, (3)
discuss some conservation problems that are specific to Monteverde and
highland forests in general, and (4) consider how principles of conservation
biology might be applied to provide solutions to those problems.
| --Nathaniel T. Wheelwright |
| Bowdoin College |
| Brunswick, Maine |
www.bowdoin.edu/dept/bio/wheelwright.htm
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