In the cloud forests, such as the one in Monteverde, plants abound which are specially adapted to absorbe moisture directly from the mist. It is from these huge, misty forests that Costa Rica's abundant water sources derive.
Epiphytes, plants which live on trees in order to reach the sunlight, also abound in these forests, adding to the water-gathering ability of the trees. The epiphytes aren't parasites; they feed off water and dust and nutrients which accumulate around their roots.
Costa Rica has roughly 1,500 species of orchids, almost all of them epiphytes. Costa Rica, in fact, provides much of the world's supply of orchids. Other epiphytes include bromeliads (over 200 species, much more commonly seen than the orchids.) The epiphytes, treetops and vines create a canopy that preserves the moisture within the forest, and also provides a home for many small animals and insects that live their whole lives in the canopy, never touching the ground. The cloud and rainforests of Costa Rica comprise some of the world's most complex ecosystems.
In Santa Rosa National Park and in parts of Guanacaste, seasonal dry forests host a different mix of flora. Highlighted among them are large, deciduous trees that bloom gloriously at the beginning of the dry season. The forests are lit with huge splashes of white, pink, scarlet, yellow, orange and purple, from trees with names like the poró, jacaranda, corteza and flame of the forest. Other plants flower during the rainy season, supporting a different mix of pollinating birds and insects.
The diversity inherent in tropical forests becomes clear when they are compared to the temperate forests in North America or Europe. In the temperate latitudes, forests tend to be dominated by a relatively small mix of species such as in a northern spruce forest. In a lowland tropical rainforest, one of the most diverse terrrestrial habitats on earth, hundreds of tree species can be found, and virtually every tree you walk by will be a different species from its neighbors.
This same explosion of diversity in the tropics applies to other plants than trees; to orchids, bromelaids, other epiphytes and vines, for example.
In the Pacific swampland, there are six different species of mangroves. They join the marine flora and fauna to form their own diverse ecosystem.
These range from the resplendent quetzal, with its shimmering green plumage, scarlet belly, white tail feathers and green tail coverts that trail over 60 cm (2 ft) behind its body -- to the rare harpy eagle, which can snatch a monkey or a sloth right out of its branch in the treetops. There are over 50 species of hummingbirds, 15 parrots (including the scarlet macaw,) six toucan species, 75 different flycatchers, 45 tanagers, 29 antbirds and 19 cotingas.
The birdlife of Costa Rica is explored in more detail
The country is also home to a wide assortment of other tropical mammals; two types of sloths, the often-viewed three-toed, a diurnal animal, and the rarely seen, nocturnal two-toed sloth. Three types of anteaters reside in Costa Rica; the tamandua is most commonly seen, while the others, the giant and silky anteaters are rarely glimpsed.
Visitors to Costa Rica's rainforests are liable to see armadillos, agoutis, coatis, peccaries (wild pigs), kinkajous, raccoons, squirrels and bats. But some rainforest animals are almost never seen. Jaguars and tapirs, for example, are now considered endangered species. Still, their tracks are regularly seen in the more remote, larger expanses of undisturbed forest such as that surrounding the Rara Avis Reserve.
One of the most breathtaking is the morpho, with its 15 cm (6-inch) wingspan and electric blue upper wings. Floating over the rivers, usually on sunny mornings, they are a stunning sight. When they land, only their brown underwings are visible; a camouflage to protect them from their enemies.
Such camouflage is prominent in the butterfly community. Some species look just like the leaves and bark of the trees on which they rest. Yet others have wings with spots that resemble eyes. Predators occasionally attack their wings, leaving them with only minor injuries, their heads and bodies safe from harm.
Costa Rica is home to roughly 150 species of amphibians, some of which are extremely colourful and exotic. There are tree frogs which spend their entire lives above the forest floor, breeding in the water of tank bromeliads or in holes in the trunks of trees. Others, the poison-arrow frogs, are exuberantly colored, ranging from bright red with blue or green legs to bright green with black markings. These frogs emit skin toxins that are distasteful of lethal to their potential predators, and their bright coloration serves to warn predators of their danger.
There are over 200 species of reptiles in Costa Rica, over half of them snakes. But snakes are rarely encountered, even by those looking for them. Often they are nocturnal or superbly camouflaged, and if they lie perfectly still on the forest floor, they can be virtually impossible to detect.
Much more frequently seen are the country's lizards. The common Ameiva has a white stripe running down its back. Bright green basilisk lizards can reach a metre (3 ft) in length. Their huge crests run the length of their heads, giving them the appearance of a dinosaur. They are nicknamed "Jesus Christ lizards" because they can run across water when disturbed.
Costa Rica is also home to crocodiles and turtles. The 14 turtle species include both marine and freshwater varieties. The largest of the marine turtles are leatherbacks. Their shells are up to a metre and a half (5 feet) and they weigh upwards of 360 kg (800 lb)! Marine turtles climb up sandy beaches to lay their eggs, a spectacular sight because it happens en masse. Olive ridleys nest synchronously -- tens of thousands of females sometimes emerge from the sea in a single night!
Off the Pacific coast and around the offshore islands and coral reefs, snorkellers and scuba divers can find spectacular tropical fish, sea urchins, anemones and starfish.
It is, of course, well known how birds rely on forests to exist, and how the deforestation of the planet has threatened many species and driven some to extinction.
In the rainforests and cloud forests, plants rely on plants: the epiphytes, mainly orchids and bromeliads, live in the canopy, right on the trees, in order to get the light they need.
Atta leaf-cutter ants carry their little pieces of leaves on their backs to their homes -- the leaves are rotted into a mulch which the ants tend carefully. In that mulch, they grow a particular fungus, which is what the colony feeds on.
Take away the leaves, and the ants go away; take away the ants, and there is no food for some of the numerous species of antbirds in the forest.
Species adapt to their environment. Some poisonous animals use bright coloring to warn their prey. Some butterflies taste bad to birds; others have adapted their coloring to look like the butterflies that taste bad to birds! Some insects look just like the leaves, stems or bark among which they hide to protect themselves.
In many cases, two different species adapt themselves to fulfill each other's needs. The forests abound with insects that feed off the nectar of a specific type of flower, thus pollinating that flower and helping it survive. There are several dozen different species of figs in Costa Rica, and each one is pollinated by a different species of wasp. Modify the fig trees and the wasps will die out, as will the birds that prey on them for food. Remove the wasps and the fig trees will be gone within a generation.
Bright colors attract animals with a good sense of sight, such as the hummingbirds. Other pollinizing agents have a strong sense of smell, such as flies and butterflies; plants which they pollinate are particularly fragrant. Yet others, such as bats and some birds, are nocturnal, and there are plants which emit their scents only at night to attract them. The flowers are usually shaped to accomodate the part of the pollinizer's body that it uses to carry the pollen away -- wings, beak, feet ...
Costa Rica table of contents
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