Cordillera de Talamanca

Last updated
Talamanca Mountain Range
Cordillera de Talamanca CRI 07 2016 7470.jpg
Aerial view of the Cordillera de Talamanca
Highest point
Peak Cerro Chirripó,Costa Rica
Elevation 3,820 m (12,530 ft)
Coordinates 09°29′02.7″N83°29′19.2″W / 9.484083°N 83.488667°W / 9.484083; -83.488667
Naming
Native nameCordillera de Talamanca (Spanish)
Geography
CountriesCosta Rica and Panama
Range coordinates 9°30′N83°40′W / 9.500°N 83.667°W / 9.500; -83.667

The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two countries.

Contents

This range in the south of Costa Rica stretches from southwest of San José to beyond the border with Panama and contains the highest peaks of both Costa Rica and Panama, among them Cerro Chirripó at 3,820 metres (12,530 ft), [1] and the more accessible high peak of Cerro de la Muerte. Much of the Caribbean areas of the range are still unexplored.

Exploration and classification

The range is covered by the Talamancan montane forests to elevations of approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). Much of it is covered by rainforests. Above elevations of 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) these are dominated by huge oak trees (Quercus costaricensis). Above 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), the forests transition to enclaves of sub-páramo, a sort of shrub and dwarf bamboo Chusquea dominated scrub, above 3,400 metres (11,200 ft) this becomes Costa Rican páramo, a tropical alpine grassland. The sub-páramo and páramo vegetation are subject to regular frosts at night, temperatures above 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) can reach 0 °C (32 °F) or below, the lowest recorded temperature was −9 °C (16 °F) at the Mount Chirripó base camp (the second lowest ever recorded in Central America). The region has been extensively studied by paleolimnologists to reconstruct the changes in climate, vegetation and fire frequencies (see also Sally P Horn).

The range is of global importance as it is a centre of endemism for many plant and animal groups and as an important habitat for many large mammals (Baird's Tapir, Puma, Jaguar) and birds that are now threatened in much of their range. An intended hydroelectricity project threatens the existence of the Tabasara Rain Frogs. [2]

View of Cordillera de Talamanca range at Estacion Biologica Cuerici. Cord talamancas.jpg
View of Cordillera de Talamanca range at Estación Biológica Cuericí.

National parks

Several national parks and reservations are located in the Talamanca mountain range, including Chirripó National Park. The Cordillera de Talamanca and La Amistad national parks have been designated by UNESCO a World Heritage Site It is also the first binational biosphere reserve. The two parks comprise 2,400 square kilometres (930 sq mi) of land and protect important ecosystems like paramo, and wetlands.

The highland paramo is located mainly in subalpine forests and thickets, located at an altitude between 3,100-3,300 m.a.s.l. and the alpine scrub and grasslands, located between 3,300-3,819 m.a.s.l. [3]

Peat bogs are wetlands located in topographic depressions, on poorly drained land and are periodically flooded. [4] In Costa Rica they are located in the low montane and high montane altitude zones. The flora is similar to the high elevation moors, including also oak trees (Quercus spp.), and Blechnum plants in association with bryophytes from the genus Sphagnum. Other common genus are Rubus, Pteridium and Comarostaphyllis. The El Empalme peat bog suffers greater pressure from agricultural activity and as altitude increases, there is an increase in floristic diversity. [5]

Important elevations

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Chirripó</span> Highest mountain in Costa Rica

Mount Chirripó is the highest mountain in Costa Rica, with an elevation of 3,821 meters. It is part of the Cordillera de Talamanca, and the range's highest point. It is located in Chirripó National Park and is noted for its ecological wealth. The mountain was named "Chirripo", meaning "land of eternal waters", by indigenous Costa Ricans because there are many lakes and streams around the mountain. The high peaks in Chirripó National Park and La Amistad International Park host important areas of Talamancan montane forest and Costa Rican Páramo with high endemism and extremely high biodiversity. The peaks of these mountains constitute sky islands for many species of plants and animals. Snow has not fallen on the peak in the past 100 years or so, according to the University of Costa Rica, but hail is sometimes reported.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tapantí National Park</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirripó National Park</span>

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Barbilla National Park is a National Park in the Caribbean La Amistad Conservation Area of Costa Rica located on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca. It protects forests as well as Laguna Ayil and Cerro Tigre and the Dantas River watershed, covering parts of both Cartago and Limón Provinces. It was initially established in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerro de la Muerte</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talamancan montane forests</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Rican páramo</span>

The Costa Rican páramo, also known as the Talamanca páramo, is a natural region of montane grassland and shrubland of Costa Rica and western Panama.

Isthmohyla calypsa is a species of frogs in the family Hylidae. It is known from the southern Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica, Cerro Pando in Costa Rica and Panama, and the Pacific slope in southwestern Panama. It appears to now be extirpated from Costa Rica. Prior to its description in 1996, this species was confused with Isthmohyla lancasteri, a species now known from lower altitudes only.

Isthmohyla lancasteri is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to humid premontane slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica and western Panama.

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The crater salamander, also known as the marbled crater salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical, high-altitude moist montane forests. It has a small area of distribution and is threatened by habitat loss therein.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerro de la Muerte Biological Station</span>

The Cerro de la Muerte Biological Station is one of the several field stations for biological research that exist in Costa Rica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Amistad International Park</span>

The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish Parque Internacional La Amistad, formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a Transboundary Protected Area in Latin America, management of which is shared between Costa Rica and Panama, following a recommendation by UNESCO after the park's inclusion in the World Heritage Site list in 1983. The park and surrounding biosphere reserve is one of the most outstanding conservation areas in Central America, preserving a major tract of tropical forest wilderness. It is world-renowned for its extraodinary biodiversity and endemism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwestern Andean montane forests</span>

The Northwestern Andean montane forests (NT0145) is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador. Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cooler ones combined, and interglacial periods when the reverse occurred. Because the environment is hospitable to humans, the habitat has been drastically modified by farming and grazing since the Pre-Columbian era.

<i>Sciodaphyllum pittieri</i> Species of flowering plant

Sciodaphyllum pittieri is a species of flowering plant in genus Sciodaphyllum. It is native to the mountain forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.

References

Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Costa Rica". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 220.

  1. ↑ Hutchison, Peter (2008), Costa Rica handbook: the travel guide, Footprint Handbooks, p. 421, ISBN   1-903471-06-0
  2. ↑ "Panama: Village of the damned - People & Power - Al Jazeera English". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-11.
  3. ↑ Kappelle, M. & Horn, S.P. (2005). Páramos de Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Santo Domingo.
  4. ↑ Kappelle, M. & Horn, S.P. (2016). The Páramo ecosystem of Costa Rica’s highlands. In: Kappelle, M. (Ed.). Costa Rican Ecosystems. University of Chicago Press: 492-523.
  5. ↑ González F., León Y., López-Estébanez N. (2021). Las Turberas de la Cordillera de Talamanca (Costa Rica): Diversidad Biológica y Gestión. En J.L. García (Ed.), Medio natural, biodiversidad y paisaje: XXVII Congreso de la Asociación Española de Geografía (633-650). Asociación Española de Geografía, AGE. https://xxviicongresodegeografia.es/wp-content/themes/genesis-sample/pdf/LIBRO_CONGRESO_1.pdf
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